The Renewed Trilogy: Book One: Come Clean
by Cinderpaw11
Summary: Hollyleaf lives on. Unsure of where to go, she heads to ShadowClan, and starts a new life as their deputy. But when she finds out about a string of mysterious murders, suddenly her life takes takes a tragic twist, and she's thrown into the middle of it.
1. Come

**Cinderpaw11 here! So, I've decided to be an idiot and decided to start another fanfiction! Yaaaay! Anyways, this is about Hollyleaf, and yes, it's a songfic, too bad for you if you hate songfics. I thought this song went perfectly with Hollyleafs story. Anyway, I know I'm planning a Rainwhisker story, and I have about fifteen Births to write, AND I'm planning to continue Invisible, BUT, I loved Hollyleaf… she was epic, and I really do hope she's still alive, and somewhat sane. Anyway, this is getting pathetically long, so on with it.**

**Disclaimer: That's right, I'm writing a disclaimer, wanna fight about it? Come Clean belongs to Hillary Duff, Warriors to Erin Hunter, and 'Wanna fight about it?' is from Family Guy.**

Hollyleaf ran into the tunnels, full speed. Her brothers weren't going to come after her. They knew she needed her space. And then it happened. There was a loud rumble, and Hollyleaf swore there must be a storm. Until a chunk of dirt fell on her head.

She sped up. She didn't want to die! She just wanted to get away for a while. From the glaring clan-mates, the growls and hisses that had come after her since she announced it. She should be a hero, not a villain!

Her brothers scream echoed around the tunnels, making the dirt fall faster: "_Hollyleaf!_"

And then it opened in front of her. A way out! No… three.

One was crumbling away, one was almost buried, and the last was shaking violently.

She looked at them frantically. No way out, at least not unless she got injured doing so. And she chose.

The first one. And as she zoomed through it, feeling her anger run out of her and into the crumbling ground, soon to be replaced with fear and possibly pain, she saw light. Bright light shining in through a hole in the roof. And the smell of ShadowClan. But it was better than nothing. She sped up, and took a flying leap. Only to be smashed back down, as a huge rock fell out of the roof of the cave, catching only her tail, but still enough to break her tail. Yowling with pain, she clawed at the rock, and suddenly the rock was flung down the tunnel. Ignoring the weird occurrence, and thanking StarClan, she took another jump, successfully landing in the outside world.

A yowl of victory escaped her, as she had escaped the tunnels, and she turned tail and fled back into ThunderClan territory. But not back to camp. She couldn't go back there, not yet. In a moon or two she'd return. Until then, she knew a place near the Moonpool she could hide. '_The Moonpool…_' She snarled under her breath. The place closest to StarClan. Pathetic, StarClan wasn't in charge of her anymore. She chose her own path. It was her life, and she chose what to do.

She dodged everything she saw. Every familiar landmark she had grown to love and cherish throughout the seasons. And then she smelt the WindClan borders. The scent _she_ was related to. Hollyleaf curled her lip in disgust, continuing on her way. She remembered the first time she went up the path by the stream, her real mother beside her, tail flicking nervously at what was about to happen, eager to see her friend, Willowpaw.

Familiar voices were heard up ahead, and she stopped abruptly. She couldn't be seen; she'd be taken to camp for punishment or questioning. She wasn't ready for that.

_Thornclaw._ She identified as the first voice, as she picked her way forward slowly. _And… Heathertail…?_

"We have to stop meeting Heathertail. I'm sorry."

A shocked, sputtered, "B-but… we…" replied.

_Heathertail and Thornclaw? That explains Thornclaw being single… or not-so-single._ Hollyleaf watched curiously, as Thornclaws fur bushed out, and he hissed at Heathertail to make a run for it.

"Who's there?" He demanded. And out stepped the one she dreaded. The one she wanted dead. The code-breaker. Her mother. Her _real_ mother.

Leafpool muttered something about needing to think. And Thornclaws reply shredded Hollyleafs heart: "After Hollyleaf died… I think we all do."

She had _died_? No she hadn't! _I'm right here!_ she wanted to yowl. What had her brothers said about her?

She didn't catch the rest of their conversation. She had run. And at the perfect time, for moments later, Crowfeather appeared.

Code-breaking ThunderClanners! And she was one of them!

But she continued towards her hiding spot. She wouldn't go back until this blew over a bit. Two moons ought' a do it.

And against her word, she went about nine moons later. She started on her way to camp. Would anyone remember her? Perhaps. But she would eavesdrop before she went in. And she knew the perfect place. The area outside the nursery that she and her brothers used to talk in. She could easily eavesdrop on the gossiping queens.

"Can you believe Dovepaw?"

"What's wrong with Dovepaw? She seems nice."

"Oh, she's wonderful. But hasn't she clung to that medicine cat and her mentor a bit too much? She never hangs out with her sister anymore."

"Ivypaws fine. And Dovepaw has every right to hang out with those two. They're brothers, she probably goes to Jayfeather to ask for rumors and junk about Lionblaze. You know, I used to be good at blackmail."

"You? Blackmail? I don't see it. But doesn't Dovepaw seem like she… replaced _her_?"

"Hollyleafs name isn't a curse, you nimrod! She was a saint until the end! And so what? Lionblaze and Jayfeather… were so depressed until that Dovepaw came along. Besides, without her knowing about the beavers, we'd all be dead!"

"I did like Hollyleaf. You know, Mousewhisker had the biggest crush on her!"

Hollyleaf backed out of the small cave. Had it gotten smaller, or she bigger? Either way, she knew now. She wasn't needed. _Dovepaw was it?_ she thought, _Hope you do better than me with the prophecy._ So _Dovepaw_ had replaced her? Thanks for mourning me so long dear brothers. Nine moons, barely anything, and a replacement. And Mousewhisker liked her. Huh. Well, that sucked. She liked him in her later apprentice days. Oh well, the point. She wasn't needed anymore. She knew the prophecy didn't involve her. But it still pierced her heart.

Distant voices interrupted her thoughts.

Jayfeather was complaining about having to find a bigger meeting place soon.

But that would mean…

Uh-oh.

She leaped into the nearest tree, hoping that the leaves would cover her. Her scent wouldn't matter, it was ThunderClan.

"We don't have time to find one." She heard Lionblaze reply.

"Why can't we talk somewhere else completely? We could talk in that tree, for StarClans sake!" a tiny voice piped up. Hollyleaf guessed that that was Dovepaw. _No! This is _my _tree! You can't have it to!_

"A tree? No way." Lionblaze snapped.

"Why do we have to talk anyway? It's just stupid! Don't we know everything we need to? Lionblaze fights, Jayfeather dreams, and I see. Ta-dah! Done! Can I go?" Dovepaw growled.

"We know you don't want your powers, but neither did we." Lionblaze retorted.

"Yeah, get over it." Jayfeather agreed.

"Harsh, Jayfeather."

"I try to be." Jayfeather yawned.

"I know you don't want me to be part of you." Dovepaw started. "You want Hollyleaf. It's n-"

"Who told you about her?" Lionblazes enraged snarl cut her off.

"Rumors, clan-mates, gatherings. Need I go on?"

"You will _never_ bring her up with us, you got that! She died moons ago, and we don't have time for you to sulk about not being her. She's gone. As far as I'm concerned, she never existed! _Never_ bring her up again!" Lionblaze had gone over the top.

"… And _I'm_ harsh?" Jayfeather asked after Dovepaw ran off. "She was bound to find out about her! Besides we don't even have proof she died! Don't take out your anguish on Dovepaw, she was making a point, and it was true. We miss Hollyleaf, and Hollyleaf _did_ exist! You can't decide on that! But she's gone now, and we have to move on, no matter what! We have a prophecy to fulfill. Now go find Dovepaw, Firestar wanted to talk to us three." Huh, Jayfeather snapped to. Lionblaze snarled at him before walking off, tail swishing in anger and annoyance. Jayfeather slumped to the ground, letting out a long sigh, "Oh, Hollyleaf, why'd you have to do this to us…?"

Hollyleaf looked down at her brother from the branch she was on. Had she really done this much? Had she been the bind holding her brothers together? Letting out a sigh, she clawed her way down the tree, not caring anymore if Jayfeather saw –or rather heard- her. His ear twitched, but he gave no sign he knew who it was, he simply curled himself into a tight ball, turning away from her.

She walked up to him and licked his ear, and whispered, "I'm so, so sorry, Jayfeather…" before running away before her brother could guilt-trip her into coming back. This way he would think he fell asleep went to the top of the drop off that had the camp in it and looked around. She could see everyone, but they couldn't see her. Purdy was sunbathing outside the elder's den, while Mousefur and Longtail chatted outside of it. Lionblaze was entering the leaders den with Dovepaw trailing behind him, and Jayfeather had just walked into camp with a lost look on his face, before turning his gaze towards where she was hiding. His eyes widened, and he flinched before running into the leaders den. Mousewhisker, Bumblestripe, Millie and Brambleclaw were heading out on patrol. Daisy was lazing around the nursery, while Ferncloud and Dustpelt slept behind her. Squirrelflight was glaring at a dead squirrel that she was supposed to be eating. Sandstorm was peeking into the medicine cat's den, and flicked her tail in annoyance when she found that no one was in it. Leafpool was walking towards Sandstorm, mouthing some words. Sandstorm shook her head and growled a reply to which Leafpool looked ashamed. Good.

A fresh wave of anger washed over her, and she felt her throat rumble as she snarled in fury. If Leafpool and Squirrelflight hadn't lied, they wouldn't be going through all this anguish!

Before she knew what was happening, a feeling of power came over her, and a nearby beech tree was thrown into the clearing below, heading right towards where Leafpool had been standing moments ago. Yowls of terror filled the air, and someone screaming in agonized pain came from the elder's den.

Hollyleaf backed up in horror. Had _she_ done that? Or was she imagining the feeling of power? Shaking, she headed away from the scene that the tree –or maybe she- had caused. She was going to forget all this. She was going to find a new place to live. But where? Obviously not ThunderClan. Or WindClan. River or ShadowClan? Would they accept her? ShadowClans leader, Blackstar, had seemed rather pleased at the announcement she had made. Maybe he respected her now. But, she was dead, wasn't she?

No. She was alive. He could accept her if he wanted, but RiverClan and loner life were always options.

But Clan-life was more suitable for her. ShadowClan it was.

And just like that, she was on her way to ShadowClan. And to say they were surprised to see a ghost was an understatement. Four cats screamed, two ran out of camp, three attacked her, two fainted, and the rest were to shocked to move. It was an amusing sight. Blackstar seemed highly amused after she explained what needed explaining. The tunnel, the nine lonely moons, the decision to not join ThunderClan again –but not the reason- and that she wished to join ShadowClan. And he agreed. Especially after he found out her power. It was an accident, just moving a rock, but he saw, and that was that.

_~ Five Moons Later ~_

Life had been… good. Moon one, had been… awkward. Moon two, cats started opening up to her a bit more. Moon three, Crowfrost, Scorchfur and Redwillow all started to act _extremely _nice to her, Scorchfur asked to be mates, she accepted, and was pregnant. Moon four, was in the nursery while ShadowClan fought ThunderClan over some territory, gave birth to Rock-kit and Rosekit, Russetfur died in battle, Rowanclaw was named _temporary _deputy. Moon five, Hollyleaf usually leaves the nursery –the kits in the care of Snowbird- and eventually becomes loyal enough to become, that's right, deputy.

-_Moon Five, Gathering_

"Okay, Hollyleaf, as planned, we're the first Clan here. Now, we need you to have a big entrance, so hide in those bushes at the side of the tree here. That's right, now when I say, 'Meet our new deputy,' step out, and I'll say, 'Hollyleaf.'" Blackstar planned.

Hollyleaf blinked, "Can't I just st-"

"No."

"But I ju-"

"No."

"…Okay."

"Good girl."

"I'll claw you."

"I know you will, now get in the bush," Blackstar commanded, shoving Hollyleaf roughly.

"Hey, be gentle. She has kits to return to you know." Scorchfur snapped.

Blackstar rolled his eyes.

"He's right. Hollyleaf has _Scorchfurs_ kits to return to." Crowfrost spat the name Scorchfur like it was crowfood.

"Yes, _Scorchfurs_." Redwillow added, though not in a terribly upset voice; Scorchfur was his brother, and he was happy for him.

"Yes, _mine!_" Scorchfur added proudly.

Blackstar snarled, "Shut it with the Hollyleaf chat, we all know she's great, but RiverClan is coming. And I see ThunderClan walking with WindClan across the moors."

Panic swelled in Hollyleafs chest, she was about to do the _stupidest_ thing in the world. Admitting she was still alive. And, Blackstars dramatic entrance was pretty stupid.

In the span of a few minutes, the island was bustling with cats.

"Let this Gathering begin! Firestar, would you like to speak first?" Mistystar asked.

"ThunderClan is doing well, except for a lone badger, but it has been sent over the WindClan border. Onestar?"

"Thank you, Firestar, a badger is just what we wanted." Onestar said dryly. Hollyleaf ignored the rest. When was Blackstar going to speak?

"Mistystar, would you like to speak?"

Apparently last.

"Blackstar?"

"Prey is thriving. We had a small spat with a fox, but it was quickly taken care of by our new deputy." That was true. Hollyleafs power had kicked in. After it bit her shoulder, she had yowled, and it flew into a tree on the other side of the scent line.

"Rowanclaw defeated a fox by himself?" Blackclaw yowled in a shocked tone.

"No." Blackstar started, ignoring the confused glances sent his way, "Rowanclaw was a _temporary_ deputy, if you remember me saying. Our _new_ deputy sent it out all on her own. Cats of all Clans, I'd like you to meet ShadowClans new deputy," he paused. Yep, he was really dramatic.

Taking that as her cue, she made the bushes rustle to get the attention on the bush.

Then she stepped out, heart pounding miles a minute, and, doing her best to ignore every cat except her mate, who was grinning with insane happiness. Gasps and yowls rose through, almost knocking her off her feet. Brambleclaw, the deputy of ThunderClan, a.k.a her adopted father, looked like his eyes were about to pop out of his head, Squirrelflight was rushing towards the front of the crowd, blinking repeatedly, and Leafpool fainted.

Lionblaze and Jayfeather were crowding her, and she did her best not to hiss or bush out her fur. She nodded to them, and flashed a small smile to show she was okay, then walked to sit with the other deputies.

"Hollyleaf."

**I'm aware I changed some stuff, but whatever, I had to. Yup, Blackstar is dramatic. And my time line is probably screwed up xD**

**Did you read it? Did you read the lyrics? Did you not get it? READ THEM AGAIN! Seriously, 'trying to fit a square into a circle'**

'**I defy!'**

'**Trying to find a pigment of truth beneath my skin'**

'**Let it wash away my sanity'**

'**Cause I wanna feel the thunder'**

'**Feel the wind!'**

'**I'm coming clean'**

**OH, and the Thornclaw X Heathertail blah blah blah, read my other fanfiction, After Sunrise: Forever**

**I'll update after two reviews~ Nah, I'll update in a couple of days. But reviews are nice creatures.**

****Edit: Took the lyrics out because they were against the rules. Please take the time to listen to the song or search it up.****


	2. Keep Holding On

**Note: I forgot to mention, this is based before Night Whispers.**

**You can pretty much ignore the song in this chapter, if you want. It's the best I could find. * Shrugs ***

**I'd like to thank my three AWESOME reviewers.**

**Disclaimer: Keep Holding On – Avril Lavigne**

Hollyleaf froze. More cats were crowding her too fast. Sending a couple of quick, desperate glances at Blackstar and Scorchfur, who would smile reassuringly, and mouth things like, '_It's your fault._' '_Sorry, but this is for you to do.'_ And, for Blackstar, _'Haha!'_

Shaking desperately as they started a shoving contest to see if she was real first.

Fur bristling, she let out a shriek that pierced ever her ears, "_Back off!_"

Cats flew back, literally, and it took her a minute to realize that her powers had shoved them away. Yelps from some went up as they landed in awkward, painful positions.

_Oops._

Quickly, she smoothed her fur, and padded to sit with the other deputies at the roots of the towering tree. Blackstar smiled down at her, clearly happy at the drama. She rolled her eyes, looking back out at the clearing. Three quarters of the cats were cowering and backing away in fear, and the other quarter was gazing at her in shock and fear.

Blackstar continued his report, ignoring the fact that no one could hear, nor did they care, that he was there. Everyone was staring at Hollyleaf.

"And that's about it. Anything else, or can we go. And stop staring at Hollyleaf, you're scaring the whiskers off of her." Blackstar said from above her.

Firestar finally seemed to realize that Blackstar had shut up, and cleared his throat nervously. "Blackstar, may we have a moment with your… _deputy?_"

_No, no, no, no, no, n-_

"Of course! Hollyleaf, I'll leave Scorchfur and Rowanclaw for you. Everyone else, scat!"

_Blackstar, were you aware that you suck?_

In a daze, the Clans –minus ThunderClan, Scorchfur and Rowanclaw- filed off of the island. When the last warrior crossed, Firestar turned to her, and she felt her heart stop. Was he mad about the last gathering she had been to? Sad that she had left? Happy that she was alive? She couldn't read his eyes, which were usually quite readable.

After minutes of an awkward and confidence draining staring contest, he sighed, "Can anyone think of anything to say? Because for once, I can't."

Thornclaw opened his mouth, and then shut it again. Mousewhisker looked beside him, at Bumblestripe, then back at Hollyleaf. Leafpool coughed.

"Okay, lets start with this, if you don't have anything to say to Hollyleaf besides 'what happened' and 'your alive?' then leave." Firestar started.

Thornclaw, Birchfall, Whitewing, Foxleap, Toadstep, Bumblestripe and Berrynose left.

That left: Jayfeather, Lionblaze, Dovepaw, Ivypaw, Mousewhisker, Cinderheart, Leafpool, Squirrelflight, Brambleclaw and Firestar. And her two ShadowClan companions.

"Okay, mind explaining… everything, Hollyleaf?"

She turned to her mate and Clan mate, and whispered, "Go wait for me at the tree-bridge. I'll be there… later, I guess."

Rowanclaw nodded, and padded off. Scorchfur glared harshly at Mousewhisker for a moment before following Rowanclaw and leaving a nervous Hollyleaf to explain. And she did. She told them _almost_ everything. She left out the Thornclaw thing. She was different now, and didn't want to hurt him. And her throwing the tree, and the prophecy business. She also left out her powers, but she could tell everyone, especially Jayfeather and Lionblaze, was dying to know what had happened moments ago.

"And that's it… I've been fine, living with ShadowClan. I'm happy, I've got a mate, kits, friends."

Firestar nodded in understanding. "I'm sorry you didn't want to come back to ThunderClan. We would've welcomed you back, you know. But I'm sure you want to talk with your ex-clan mates now. I am heading back to camp." Turning to his clan, he added, "don't be to long."

Mousewhisker and Cinderheart came up first. Her two closest friends, when she was in ThunderClan. They asked how she was, and what had happened, not seeming to remember that Hollyleaf had shared all of that already. She repeated a couple of things, before they were satisfied, and wound themselves around her. Mousewhisker licked her ear, then headed to the tree-bridge, and Cinderheart padded over to Lionblaze, whispering something that sounded like: "I guess we'll be taking a walk tonight, huh?" and flicking him playfully with her tail before following Mousewhisker.

Brambleclaw came up next, awkwardly saying that he was happy she was alive and okay, then smiled gently and wandered away, to be replaced moments later by Leafpool and Squirrelflight.

_Oh boy. Even more awkwardness._

They looked at each other for a while before Leafpool smiled and purred loudly. Hollyleaf blinked in surprise. The last time she had seen her was when she tried to kill her, and here she was, purring at the sight of her? '_Well, that's moms for you.'_

Leafpool asked a couple of questions, one of them being, "You had kits? I'm a grandmother? I'm too young! Are you serious?" too which Hollyleaf nodded and explained what each of her kits was like.

Wait… was she getting along with her mother? Was she _relating_ to her?

Squirrelflight apologized again and again about the lies, and begged for forgiveness. Leafpool joined her.

It was pathetic, and really funny all at once. But she forgave them nonetheless.

Purring their heads off, the sisters said good-bye and ran for the tree-bridge.

Next, was Ivypaw and Dovepaw, who looked at her in amazement. "Your real?" Ivypaw gasped, "I thought you were just a legend to scare kits from having mates in other Clans!"

Hollyleaf shrugged, slightly amused. _Her_ a legend?

"But… But you _are_ real! That's so cool! Um…. Bye!" And Ivypaw was gone.

Dovepaw looked up at her nervously. "I-I'm sorry! I didn't mean to have powers!"

She seemed to have forgotten she hadn't told Hollyleaf that she had powers.

Lionblaze walked up to the apprentice, and muttered, "She didn't know you had powers, mouse-brain!"

Hollyleaf smiled. "I did."

Lionblaze gazed at her in confusion. "…How?"

"I heard you guys talking. About five moons ago. You know, you called Jayfeather harsh, then screamed at Dovepaw, and then Jayfeather called you harsh? Yeah, I was there."

Lionblaze blinked in embarrassment. "You weren't supposed to hear that…" he muttered.

"Clearly."

Dovepaw frowned. "But you have powers too… I saw you fling cats backwards. We all saw it… then are you still one of the three, or am I?"

Hollyleaf hesitated before answering, "I'm sure you are. I don't think I could handle it… but remember that if you need any help, ask me. I'll ask Blackstar if he will allow me to have certain visitors. Namely you three."

Dovepaw nodded happily, them turned to Lionblaze, "She's awesome! Why does everyone hate her…?"

Crouching down to Dovepaws level, he hissed, "You can go now."

She frowned, but obeyed.

And then it was three.

_Even more awkward._

Lionblaze seemed unable to look at her.

Jayfeather was sitting beside him, staring blindly at his sister.

Hollyleaf shuffled her feet. "Somehow, I imagined this more happy." She said.

Lionblaze nodded, still not looking at her.

Jayfeather seemed to regain movement, because a few seconds later, he was on top of her, purring happily and licking her muzzle.

"Cant…. Breathe…. Git'off." She gasped. Jayfeather hesitated then hopped off.

Lionblaze looked amused.

"Aren't you happy to see me too?"

He nodded silently.

"Then talk."

He opened his mouth, but no sound came out.

"Talk, or I'll tell Cinderheart about that weird problem you had when you were four moons old."

Jayfeather burst out laughing

"_What? _No, no, no!"

"There you go. Now, now, stop glaring, I was just kidding."

Lionblaze scowled unhappily.

"Why would it matter if I told Cinderheart? You wouldn't care if I told her when we were apprentices. Could you be mates? I mean, what walks? Why didn't you tell me! …Wait, don't answer that last one."

"We're not mates. It's just embarrassing. So zip it!"

"But walks together? Seems suspiciously couple-ish." Jayfeather sniffed.

"We're not mates!"

"Pff, right."

"Shut up!"

"Then what are you?"

Silence.

"Forget it."

"Thank you.

"Anyway," Jayfeather said, turning back to Hollyleaf. "What was with that thing before? You flung cats halfway across the clearing! Willowshine looked like she was going to wet herself."

Hollyleaf blinked in amusement. She was surprised at how fast they started joking around again. "I dunno how. It happens when I'm furious, scared, or in pain."

He nodded, clearly unhappy at the vague answer.

"But! How's it going in ThunderClan?"

"The same. Except your not there."

"Hmm…"

"But what about you!" Lionblaze exclaimed, "You have a mate and kits! I'm an uncle! What were there names again? Rock-kit and…"

"Rosekit."

"Yeah."

Scorchfur walked into the clearing, flicking his tail, "Hollyleaf, you ready? Crowfrost came down to see what was taking so long. Rosekit sneaked into the Medicine Den while the gathering was held. She ate something. We need to go back. _Now!_" he added when Lionblaze opened his jaws.

Hollyleaf gaped at him, "She did _what? _Oh, she is so much trouble! Is Rock-kit okay? Did he do anything?"

"He's asleep." Crowfrost said, walking in.

"Good. Sorry guys, I'll talk to you later. I'll mention to Blackstar that if you or Dovepaw need to talk to me, to let you in." She turned towards the two toms, "Lets go. Bye!"

**Next chapter will be out soon. Hehe, Rosekit, you bad kit! **

**Anyway, I picked this song, because she stands strong, and doesn't run away from her fears. Wish I could do that, then I'd be in public school still. Curses.**

**Review? Pretty please? I want at least one. At least. One. It's really easy. Trust me. Anyway, now that the reunion is out of the way, trouble will start brewing soon. What trouble? You'll see.**

**~ Cinderpaw11**

****Edit: Took the lyrics out because they were against the rules. Please take the time to listen to the song or search it up.****


	3. Battlefield

**Jordin Sparks – Battlefield**

_**One and a quarter Moons Later**_

Hollyleaf trotted back into camp, jaws full of prey. She had went out for some midnight hunting with Scorchfur, and it was as if all the prey had come out of their slumber just so they could be caught. Scorchfur had three mice, a vole and a sparrow, while Hollyleaf had caught two voles, a mouse, three frogs and a fat blackbird. She still wasn't fond of the taste of frog, but prey was prey, and leaf-bare was slowly approaching, and the prey was fattening up while it had the chance.

Redwillow, who had been on guard that night, walked up to Hollyleaf and whispered in her ear: "Blackstar was looking for you. He says to go to his den." He added in a somewhat urgent voice, "He was muttering something about war!"

Ignoring Scorchfur's mew of surprise, she rushed toward the leaders den.

"Blackstar, I'm coming in!" She declared, not caring if he was asleep or talking. Which he was - Snowbird was flicking her tail nervously, while muttering something about Rosekit bragging about her latest escapade: Clawing apart the apprentice's den.

_Note to self, long chat with Rosekit about discipline._

Snowbird looked up, smiled shyly, uttered a quick 'thanks, bye!' and fled the scene.

Blackstar turned to her impatiently, "Where were you? You're my deputy, you can't go wandering off!"

Hollyleaf scowled at him, "I was hunting with Scorchfur. Its moon-high, usually I'm not needed. What were you planning? Redwillow was panicking! He said you were talking about war! With who? Why?" She paused for a moment. "You… you're planning to attack ThunderClan! Over that… _that small piece of land?_"

Blackstar smirked, "You can read minds, too? Tsk, tsk, I should've been your mate! Oh well, chance gone, moving on. It's not _just_ the piece of land. Russetfur _died_ for StarClans sake! And if I remember correctly, it was your brother that killed her."

Hollyleaf scowled at the ground. She knew Lionblaze hadn't meant to. Russetfur shouldn't have been in the battle anyway. She was supposed to go to the elder's den, but insisted she wanted one last fight.

"He didn't mean too." She seethed.

Blackstar blinked at her calmly, "That battle shouldn't have happened, Hollyleaf. Russetfur sh-"

"So your solution is more fighting? If it wasn't supposed to happen, why counteract? You're contradicting yourself, stupid!" She spat venomously.

Blackstar glared at her, "Hollyleaf, I'm aware that you speak before thinking, but calling your leader stupid is a bit extreme. Try thinking if you were in my place right now. Your Clan wants revenge for the pointless fight that killed its former deputy. If I ignore this matter, Hollyleaf, my Clan will take feel torn between loyalty towards me, and loyalty towards Russetfur. Either way, someone's going to try fighting. I understand that you probably don't want to fight against your birth-clan, that's why I called you in. I'm doing this no matter what. The issue I wanted to discuss was if you wanted to come. It's your choice. Tawnypelt tends to sit out most ThunderClan battles, so I'll understand if you want to."

Hollyleaf looked down shamefully. She wasn't leader, and hadn't had the right to say that. She was showing disloyalty. "I'll come; but if I'm forced to fight one of my best friends –or brothers- I'll probably leave." She stated proudly, "I'm loyal to ShadowClan now, but I grew up with most of those cats. It might be hard to fight them. Though I wouldn't mind getting my claws on Spiderleg… he was always a rude furball…"

Blackstars eyes gleamed in amusement. "I trust your loyalty Hollyleaf. If you don't want to do this, don't force yourself."

"I want to fight, Blackstar."

He nodded approvingly. "If you do succeed me Hollyleaf, you will be forced to fight ThunderClan eventually, like it or not. Fights, border spats, wars, they're bound to happen. It's inevitable. But you have to do it, no matter what. Do you understand?"

Hollyleaf nodded silently.

"Good. I want you to pick some of the cats coming with us. I've got some in mind, but you sleep in the warrior's den, you know who's fit, and who's not. We will discuss the rest tomorrow morning. We attack tomorrow at… let's say right after sun-high. You know your way through the territory, are there any secret passages we could use?"

Hollyleaf glared at him coldly, "There is. But if I told you that, I'd feel disloyal to ThunderClan. They are ThunderClan secrets, and I don't plan on sharing them."

Blackstar smiled at her, "Good. Because it would worry me if you so easily gave out secrets. How would I know if I could trust you?"

Hollyleaf turned and started to leave his den. Stopping by the exit, she turned to face him. "You don't know." She murmured, just loud enough for him to hear. She heard a sharp intake of breath, and knew that her powers had thrown a pebble at him.

She didn't care.

As she stepped out of Blackstar's den, she collided into Scorchfur.

"What did Blackstar need?" He asked instantly.

She narrowed her eyes, "You know what he wanted, eavesdropper."

He grinned sheepishly as a reply.

"I can't believe him!" she snapped. "He's purposely testing me! Why doesn't he trust me…? You trust me, right?" she asked sadly.

Scorchfur frowned, "Are you testing me now?" he joked. He received a cuff over the ear as a reply. "Ouch… Of course I trust you, stupid. If I didn't trust you, I wouldn't have kits with you. Gosh, what do you think I am, insensitive?"

"Yes."

"… Yeah, you're right. Sorry."

"Of course I'm right, are you implying that I've been wrong?"

"…Don't be so conceited."

"Its fun."

"I know."

"… Shut up." She said, twining her tail with his.

Scorchfur stuck his tongue out.

Hollyleaf cuffed him again.

That's why she chose Scorchfur as a mate. He argued with her. Redwillow and Crowfrost were all talk. Boring much? Yes, very much.

"So," he started again, "Will I be in the fight?"

Hollyleaf looked at him, "I dunno. I'd worry."

He gave her a mock-insulted look. "I'd be fine! Worrywart, _you're _going to the battle! We'll just keep close to each other, and run if we get too injured. If one of us does, the other does, 'kay?"

"… I'm tired, can we go to sleep now?"

"Subject-changer."

Another cuff, "Fine, but promise me you won't get to hurt."

"You make me sound like a new born. Speaking of, Snowbird will be staying here to watch Rosekit and Rock-kit, right?"

"You didn't promise!" Hollyleaf snapped impatiently.

He looked at her sadly, "There are no guarantees Hollyleaf. I'm not going to make a promise I might not be able to keep."

Shocked at how wise he sounded, she shook her head, "Then your not going." She stated simply.

He frowned again, "You can't pick favorites. That's not fair. Besides, Blackstar might plan on bringing me. I'll even ask him."

"Stubborn…" Hollyleaf hissed, "Fine, you can come. Now, sleep?"

Purring in amusement, Scorchfur turned towards the warrior's den.

_**Dawn**_

"Crowfrost, Redwillow, Scorchfur, Dawnpelt, Ivytail, Tigerheart, Shrewfoot, Owlclaw, Ratscar, Starlingpaw and Pinepaw. You will be coming with Blackstar and I to fight against ThunderClan. They have wrongfully declared battle, and killed our former deputy –StarClan bless her soul-. When sun-high approaches, eat and prepare, because we will be attacking right after then. I expect the names listed to be at the entrance by the due time. Anyone late will be doing the apprentices duties for a quarter moon. Am I clear?"

Sour mutters replied.

"Good. Now, rest up, this fight may be hard-"

"Especially for ThunderClan scum like you! Fighting your birth-clan, traitor!" Ah yes, dear Olivenose, the cat that didn't like her. And why? Because of Scorchfur. She declared Hollyleaf a mate-stealer, which was odd because they were never mates.

Ignoring Olivenose, she continued, "Is there anyone who would like to not go? It's fine if you do."

Nobody even blinked. Ah, the fight in these cats.

"Excellent. Disperse."

Olivenose sent an angry glare her way, before stalking off towards the fresh-kill pile.

"Olivenose. You've eaten already, you can get more later. I want you to go hunting with Crowfrost and Applefur." Hollyleaf meowed, barely hiding a smirk.

Olivenose hissed at her, but obeyed.

"And watch the attitude, or I'll make you help the apprentices for a moon. StarClan knows you act like one enough."

Ignored. Was that an improvement, or not?

Maybe she'd fall of a cliff later. Or drowned. Or something horrible.

She noticed Blackstar watching her from the side of the clearing, and nodded respectfully, even though she barely respected him at the moment. Noticing he was caught, he padded over to her. "Do you approve of my choices, Blackstar?"

He closed his eyes in thought, "I think that should be enough for the battle. If we need help, we'll send a messenger to get help. I'll let you pick one later. Right now, I want to discuss Olivenose."

Hollyleaf blinked in distaste, "What about her?"

Blackstar rolled his eyes, "She is very against you being deputy, or even being in this clan, as I'm sure you've realized. And you're not helping your friendship."

"We're not friends."

"Blunt as ever, Hollyleaf. That's not good, every clan-mate should be friends, but she dislikes you… a lot."

"I know we should be friends. But she hates me."

"Clearly. Try to be friends."

Hollyleaf blinked, "You're wasting your breath."

"Whatever."

"How on earth did a kit like you manage becoming deputy?" Hollyleaf asked, amused.

"I could ask you the same thing."

"Hey!"

Blackstar sighed, "Eat and rest, we'll be leaving soon."

_Its still dawn… is he stupid, that leaves a lot of time!_ Hollyleaf thought, rolling her eyes. "I'll hunt for awhile. Or am I not allowed to leave the camp?"

Blackstar glared at her, "Yes, you can hunt. But bring someone with you."

_Still can't trust me, huh?_ She resisted the urge to pounce on him and demand to know why he didn't trust her. But then he'd trust her less, and she'd look like a mouse-brain. "Fine." She replied curtly. "Hey, Scorchfur, up for some more hunting?"

Scorchfur blinked at her lazily. "…No?"

"Great, c'mon!" She heard a sigh behind her as she trotted out of camp.

"I don't know why I listen to you. Probably because you're deputy, and you'd smash my face in if I disobeyed."

"Got that right!" She replied cheerfully.

"… You're mean."

"…Got that right!"

"And weird."

Hollyleaf opened her mouth to reply, but Scorchfur spoke first, "_Got that right!_" he said, in a very sad attempt to sound like her.

"…Don't mock me."

"Then shut up." He replied evenly.

She didn't reply, not because he had said so, but because she had spotted a mouse scuttling underneath a tree. She flicked her tail at him as a signal for him to be quiet. He nodded.

But took a step forward, and onto a twig.

_Snap!_

Hollyleaf hissed and pounced as the mouse attempted to get away. It would've made it, if it hadn't run straight into Scorchfur.

He grinned, "Sorry. Good catch though, huh?"

She sighed, "Are you really a warrior?"

His grin turned into a frown, "Meanie. Of course I am!"

She ignored him.

"Hello?"

Ignore.

"Hollyleaf?"

She stuffed her tail in his mouth in an attempt to quiet him. He glared at her, and spat her tail out. "Shh!" she exclaimed.

He tilted his head in confusion, before looking toward a clump of weeds, where Hollyleaf was looking, where there was a glowing pair of eyes watching them. It disappeared quickly, but it was there.

"W-what was that?" he asked shakily.

Hollyleaf blinked in shock, "Something scary?"

"Can we go back to camp now?"

Hollyleaf nodded.

It was nearly sun-high when they got back. They had been out longer than they had noticed, and Blackstar had scolded them for there measly catch: The mouse, and a vole they had run into – literally. But he seemed disturbed after Hollyleaf mentioned the eyes.

"What color?" he asked.

"Huh?"

"What color were the eyes?" he demanded.

Hollyleaf closed her eyes, trying to imagine back to when the two eyes had watched her from the brush. "I think they were… blue."

"You _think_? I need an _exact_ answer! What about fur? Did you see any fur?"

She shook her head numbly.

"You useless lump of fur! You should've attacked!"

She looked at her leader in shock. What had she done to deserve that?

"If you had attacked… c'mere, there's something you should know."

She nodded blankly, before waving her tail in farewell to Scorchfur.

Blackstar led her to his den. "Are you sure they were blue? Are you sure you didn't see any fur?"

"They were blue. I'm pretty sure they were. But I didn't see any fur. What's going on?"

"Lead me to where you saw it."

"Why? What's going on?" she repeated.

"I'll explain on the way. Bring Scorchfur, if we don't he'll eavesdrop on us anyway." He added in a louder voice, "Right, Scorchfur?"

"… Oops…" came the embarrassed reply.

"So what's this about?" Hollyleaf asked again.

Blackstar sighed, "For a long time, cats have disappeared. This must have started around the time you were born, Hollyleaf. No one knows what happens with them, but they wouldn't return to camp, and would never be spotted or seen. This has happened in all the clans – except ThunderClan… The clan leaders discussed it before, in private, after gatherings, to mention who's gone missing, of anyone had, and if there was any reports or odd scents. There was only one scent that anyone noticed, and only one report. Ivytail had spotted a pair of blue eyes watching her from the bushes, and rushed back to camp. When we went there, it was empty, but there were claw-marks and a weird scent – toadstools. Someone had rolled in toadstools to mask their scent. When I asked Leopardstar once, she told me she had found the scent of toadstool in a secluded area, and a small bloodstain. It smelled like one of her warriors, Snowheart. She was never reported as dead, because we didn't want to spook any warriors. None of the cats were reported missing, or dead. But we did find something…" he trailed off, his voice starting to shake uneasily, "There was a patch of ground, near the abandoned two-leg nest up above out territory, that was dug up, then filled in. I was on the patrol that found it, and we dug it up. There was… a dead body buried there. It was Snowheart. I got out best tracker to come and sniff, just encase there was any scent left. Toadstools."

Hollyleaf nodded, "… we're here…" she went over to the brush, and sniffed.

Toadstools.

She glanced at Blackstar in horror. His eyes darkened. "No one had gone missing in so long… I thought maybe the killer left. You're lucky to be alive, Hollyleaf. I wonder why the killer didn't attack… maybe because there was two of you?"

"I'll make sure no one goes out alone, and not at moon-high. Scorchfur, no more nighttime hunting. Got it?"

Scorchfur nodded, horrified.

Blackstar sighed, "Its sun-high. Lets get back."

They went back, silent, and quick. Blackstar was looking at the ground as he ran, and narrowly avoided a tree. Scorchfur, on the other paw, ran into the tree, even though he was looking up.

If the atmosphere wasn't so awkward, Hollyleaf would've burst into laughter.

"You're late!" Crowfrost yowled when they got back.

All of the chosen cats were lined up, kneading the ground impatiently.

Blackstar glared daggers at Crowfrost, "Shut up, you mouse-brain! Something serious has happened!" He snarled.

Crowfrost looked taken aback.

"W-what happened?" Ivytail asked. Hollyleaf looked at her, remembering what Blackstar said, '_"Ivytail had spotted a pair of blue eyes watching her,"_'

"Its none of the clans concern." Blackstar replied.

"Scorchfur was with you." She replied.

"I'll tell you, and only you, later."

She seemed to know what that meant, because her jaw hung open momentarily.

Blackstar nodded to her reaction.

Most cats didn't notice, but those who did, were looking from Blackstar to Ivytail, troubled.

"Enough gossip, we're going!" Blackstar snapped.

A couple of shocked mews answered, and they were off.

"You sure about this?" Scorchfur asked beside her.

She took a deep breath, "Of course. Remember, near each other, and if one runs, the other does too. Okay?"

Scorchfur nodded; "Do you smell…" he looked scared for a moment, "Toadstools?"

Hollyleaf scented the air. It was very faint, but it was there. She nodded mutely.

"Lets catch up to Blackstar."

"Y-yeah."

A few cats ahead of them, Blackstar was muttering too Ivytail.

They quickened their pace, and Scorchfur interrupted shakily.

Blackstar looked at him in annoyance, "What?"

"Blackstar, w-what do you smell?"

Confusion flashed in his eyes, and he sniffed the air hesitantly. His eyes bulged when he caught the scent. "Toadstool." He breathed, stopping to scent the air. "The winds blowing the direction we're going." He froze.

"The killer is someone in ShadowClan!" Hollyleaf hissed.

Blackstar looked at her in horror, "No, no, no no no no no! Impossible. R-right?"

Hollyleaf had never heard Blackstar so uncertain. It wasn't comforting. She didn't reply, but she saw Ivytail look at her, eyes wide.

"Ivytail!" She exclaimed, "Did you scent anything when… when the killer was watching you?"

Ivytail shook her head, "ShadowClan and toadstools. But I wasn't looking for a scent. I can't remember whom I smelled. I'm sorry."

Hollyleaf smiled reassuringly, "Its fine. But keep an eye out for odd behavior."

Blackstar stopped suddenly, and Hollyleaf realized they had arrived at the border.

She watched Blackstar sniff the air, and nod in contentment when he found out the border patrol had went by earlier, so it wouldn't be back for a while. He glanced behind him, and nodded to signal they were going.

Hollyleaf hid her hesitation as ShadowClan zoomed through. Blackstar was leading them towards the camp. He seemed to know the exact way there, and Hollyleaf hid her annoyance – she was a ShadowClan cat now, not a ThunderClan.

Blackstar halted a little way away from the entrance, looking over his shoulder once more, before running into the peaceful camp, screeching a battle cry, and jumping on the closest warrior, Thornclaw, who yowled in shock.

In mere seconds, the familiar clearing was filled with fighting cats. She spotted Jayfeather poke his head out of the medicine den, and then jump back in instantly. Thornclaw was now fighting with Tigerheart, Leafpool was scratching Dawnpelt viciously, while beside her, Brambleclaw was grappling with Oakfur. Lionblaze was fighting Ratscar, and Dovepaw was behind him with Ivypaw, both batting viciously with Starlingpaw and Pinepaw.

She didn't get anymore than that, because a second later she was tackled by Birchfall, who stopped and looked shocked. "_Hollyleaf_?" He asked in disbelief.

She took her chance to claw his side, and he seemed to realize that he had to fight her.

As she clawed at her former clan-mate, she caught sight of Scorchfur, who was halfway across the camp. Putting her annoyance in her paws, she clawed harder, and Birchfall darted away from her, and onto Redwillow, who had been attacking Bumblestripe.

Hollyleaf tried unsuccessfully to get closer to Scorchfur, as Millie leapt onto her back, and clawed at her side, not seeming to notice or care who she was attacking. Hollyleaf retaliated by tossing her aside with her power, and trying again to get to Scorchfur, who had moved closer to her, but had been tackled by Toadstep a second later. This time she made it to him, and leapt at Toadstep, who was pummeling Scorchfurs stomach. She almost made it, but was tackled at the last second, and was horrified to see that the cat that had tackled her was Lionblaze. His eyes were almost red, and she cowered in momentary fear, before regaining her wits, and hissing threateningly. Lionblaze blinked, his eyes back to there normal amber, and looking at her, shocked. He hesitated before hissing menacingly at her.

"What are you doing here?" he demanded.

She sent a glance at Scorchfur, who was struggling underneath Toadstep, before hissing, and watching in satisfaction as Toadstep was lifted into the air, and tossed into Spiderleg. Scorchfur jumped to his paws, and ran over to Hollyleaf, who was now glaring at her brother, who was glaring back. She hesitated before stopping and asking, "Have you battled with anyone who smelled like toadstool?"

Scorchfur glanced at her quickly, and Lionblaze tilted his head in confusion. "Yeah, why?"

"Who?" She demanded instantly.

Lionblaze blinked, "I-I don't know. I was…" he glanced at Scorchfur, "…in the zone; of you know what I mean. Why?" He sounded baffled, and seemed to forget there was a battle going on.

"I'll tell you if you remember who it was. Hey, look, Spiderleg isn't fighting anyone! Time to claw off some fur! C'mon Scorchfur. You promised to stay by me." Hollyleaf replied hurriedly. She had spotted Olivenose watching her. She wondered briefly if she had told Olivenose to come, but didn't remember saying her name. Blackstar must've invited her, she decided, and leapt away from Lionblaze, and onto Spiderleg, who toppled underneath her weight. She caught Scorchfur leaping at Mousewhisker from the corner of her eye, before Shrewfoot tumbled in front of her vision.

She turned her attention back to Spiderleg, who was struggling beneath her. '_I'm not _that _heavy!_" she thought, insulted.

"Git'off me!" He snarled.

Hollyleaf replied by jumping up and down. "No way! This is fun!"

"…Hollyleaf? Get off!"

She clawed his flank once, before pouncing on Sorreltail.

She heard a shriek of pain, and looked around shocked. It wouldn't have been so scary, but it was cut off almost as fast as it started. Sorreltail slipped away from her, and ran into the crowd. She spotted Lionblaze, who was calling her over, a look of horror imprinted on his face.

"What? There's a battle going on, you know!" she snapped.

"Hollyleaf…" he trailed off, looking at something behind her.

She turned around, and almost tripped over a still gray lump.

She stared at it a moment, and a scent caught her nose.

Toadstool.

The battling stopped around her as she screamed in anguish,

"_**Scorchfur!**_"

**Edit: Took the lyrics out because they were against the rules. Please take the time to listen to the song or search it up.**


	4. Sunday, Bloody Sunday

**Wow, I have 13 reviews! No, I'm not being sarcastic, seriously, I feel like crying, cause you're all so awesome. And I love that everyone's so shocked and sad about Scorchfur, 'cause I didn't think anyone would mind much. But I added in all that stuff with them to show that they actually do care about each other, and I guess it had a bit of an effect.**

**Sunday, Bloody Sunday – U2 (I was listening to the Paramore version, though…)**

Sobbing with sadness, she nudged her mate gently. Nothing. No breathing, no stirring, no jumping up and yowling 'Fooled ya!', just the stiff movement of Hollyleafs touch.

She could only blink in disbelief when Blackstar nudged her to her feet and whispered in her ear. She didn't hear him, though. She looked at him numbly, before whipping around to see the cats that had crowded around her.

"Who did this!" It wasn't a question. They knew it wasn't, but all they did was look at each other, baffled. She turned to Lionblaze, who had been sitting quietly beside her. "You found his body! Who was near it?"

He blinked, looking at her sadly, "I don't know. I tripped over his body."

She looked at her mates cooling body again, before looking back at the others. ShadowClan and ThunderClan were both there, staring.

Firestar came up to her, "I assure you, I'll find out which of my warriors did this."

"You can't." she replied, another sob escaping her. "It was a ShadowClan cat."

Blackstar came up to her, ignoring the mutters and gasps. "What in StarClans names are you talking about?"

"Toadstool…"

He stared at her briefly, before sniffing the body himself. He turned to face his Clan, "Line up!" he commanded furiously.

They obeyed without hesitation.

He sniffed through the crowd, then turned back to Hollyleaf, frowning. 'No one' he mouthed.

She nodded, and then waved her tail as a signal for him to come over to talk, after checking them once more.

Firestar blinked at her curiously, "Blackstar told you about the Toadstool killer?"

She nodded.

"What did you mean by the killers ShadowClan?" He pushed.

Hollyleaf sent an anxious look at Blackstar, who was examining his clan again, and then looked at Lionblaze who was subtly eavesdropping. "Lionblaze?" He smiled at her, "Go away." The smile disappeared before he looked hopefully at Firestar.

"I might tell you later." Firestar replied, "but you should join the others for now."

Lionblaze obeyed hastily.

"Good, now that he's not eavesdropping like the idiot he i- Lionblaze! Stop talking to Dovepaw!"

Firestar looked at her in amusement, "You know Dovepaws power, then?"

She glared one last time at Lionblaze, before turning her attention back, "Yep. Anyway, Dovepaw's probably listening to us. It doesn't matter that much though, she'd find out anyway.

"On our way here, the wind was blowing our scent in this direction, and the scent of toadstools was blowing towards us. Lionblaze also smelled it on one of the warriors he attacked." She explained quickly.

"You're not good at keeping secrets, are you?"

Bristling, Hollyleaf turned to face Blackstar. She knew what he was hinting at in that sentence, "He would've figured it out anyway! Why am I deputy if you'll never trust me?"

He ignored her, "What do you think, Firestar?"

Firestar blinked sympathetically at Hollyleaf, and replied to Blackstar with, "Blue eyes, and in ShadowClan… keep an eye on anyone with blue eyes. We'll discuss this with the others at the gathering. Mistystar and Onestar will be glad to know that we have another clue. By the way, if any of my warriors are seriously injured, I'll send a patrol to skin you."

"You couldn't hurt a fly. Hollyleaf, who did you make come to the battle?"

"Redwillow, Pinepaw, Crowfrost, Dawnpelt, Ivytail, Tigerheart, Shrewfoot, Owlclaw, Ratscar, Starlingpaw and…" she looked down at her dead mate, another wave of sadness overwhelming her, "Scorchfur." She hesitated before adding, "Olivenose came. Did you ask her too?"

Blackstar shook his head, "She has blue eyes as well."

"So do Shrewfoot, Crowfrost, Ratscar, Pinepaw and Redwillow. Snowbird and Ivytail, too. I think that's everyone in the Clan that has blue eyes. Why would she come to the battle if she wasn't told to?" Hollyleaf was surprised to find herself defending the only cat who she really disliked in ShadowClan. "And come to think of it, she's not here anymore. Neither are Ivytail, Crowfrost and Shrewfoot. Some others are gone too, but they aren't blue eyed."

Blackstar eyes scanned through the cats again before he sighed, "But whom… I was so sure they would all be loyal…"

_Am _I_ loyal?_ Hollyleaf wondered. She scanned the line of ShadowClan cats, "Redwillow, Olivenose, Ratscar and Crowfrost aren't here. Pinepaw too, but he's practically a kit, and this has been going on to long for it to be him... We'll have a good sniff of everyone when we get back. Though chances are they've tried to lose their scent."

"What about motivation?"

"Redwillow was his brother, so I don't think he did it. Olivenose… could be she did it from rejection. Crowfrost was best friends with Scorchfur – until I came into the picture, anyway. Ratscar and him were in a very heated argument, I don't know what about though."

Blackstar nodded thoughtfully. "Lets get back to camp."

Hollyleaf glanced at Lionblaze, who was staring at her inquisitively. "I'll join you soon. Lionblaze might know something, so I'm gonna interview him."

Narrowing his eyes at her again, he mewed, "If you're not back by Moon-rise, I'll send a patrol." He turned to Firestar, "This war is on hold, for now."

And with that, he padded out of the ThunderClan camp, the battle patrol following, still looking shocked. Tigerheart and Shrewfoot were carrying Scorchfur, and Hollyleaf flinched when Shrewfoot slipped, and the limp body fell.

When Hollyleaf turned to Lionblaze again, he was already walking over.

"… Will you tell me now?" was the first thing he asked.

She glared at him, "I'll tell you if you remember who it was. I told you that already, and I'm sticking to it." She hesitated, "Do you remember yet?"

He closed his eyes, trying to replay the battle, before sighing, "…It was a multicolored cat. I don't remember all the colors, but white was one of them. I pulled a clump of fur out of my claws that smelled like toadstool… I'll notice you if I remember," he said.

"Crowfrost and Olivenose have white… Redwillow has a patch of white on his back leg, and Ratscar is getting kind of old, and has some white fur. That eliminates no one…"

"I'm really sorry…"

Hollyleaf smiled, "Its not your fault. But if you remember, tell me right away. Okay?"

Lionblaze nodded, still looking unhappy. "Is… Leafpool waving to you?"

Hollyleaf turned, and indeed, Leafpool was waving her over with her tail. "I guess she is. I'll go see what she wants."

On her way to Leafpool, she passed Spiderleg, who glared at her, pointedly licking a wound of his. She dug some fur out of her claws, and placed it next to him. "I believe that is yours." She said, before continuing.

Leafpool looked relieved that she had come over.

"Is there something you need?" Hollyleaf asked bluntly.

Leafpool shuffled her paws, uncomfortable, "Do you remember when I told you I knew you… _killed Ashfur?_" she hissed quietly.

Hollyleaf nodded blankly.

"Its because, when I was grooming him, I found your fur in his claws. Look in Scorchfurs claws, and try to get the smell out of the fur." She sounded somewhat excited to be of help.

Hollyleaf smiled gratefully, "I'll try that." She didn't bother mentioning that she wouldn't be able to distinguish the smell over toadstool, Leafpool wouldn't understand.

Hollyleaf sighed as she padded back into the ShadowClan camp. She was out of anger now. She wanted to go and be with Scorchfur before the elders were sent to bury him. Redwillow, Kinkfur, Tawnypelt and Littlecloud were bent over her mate's dead body.

A stab of pain jolted through her chest as she settled next to Redwillow. He gazed at her in sadness, "I can't believe he's dead," he rasped.

Hollyleaf turned her gaze to him, remembering that Redwillow was Scorchfurs brother. "No," she mewed quietly, "This is unbelievable."

"It's not like you really care, though." A voice sneered behind them.

They turned around in unison, facing Crowfrost. Redwillow frowned, clearly confused, "What do you mean we don't care?" he demanded.

Crowfrost gazed at him coldly, "Not you. I'm sure you care. But, Hollyleaf doesn't care."

Hollyleaf stared at him blankly, "What do you…?" she trailed off.

He shrugged nonchalantly, "Well, it's not like you actually loved him. You just wanted to gain the trust of the Clan, right?"

She felt her anger rising back, "Didn't care?" She echoed angrily, "Of _course_ I care! I loved him with all my heart!" she stepped towards Crowfrost, clawing unsheathing.

He blinked, not intimidated, "You don't have to lie-"

Hollyleaf cut him off, swiping an unsheathed paw over his cheek. He recoiled in shock, eyes widening. "I loved Scorchfur more than anything in the world!" she cried, "Just because you have bitter feelings towards us doesn't mean you can decide if I loved him or not!" Her eyes flashed, and she finished her rant with one last sentence that made him turn and leave, tail trailing on the ground: "I'm so glad I didn't pick _you_."

She turned back and buried her face in Scorchfurs fur again, trying to get any last traces of his scent, and not the scent of death, that surrounded the body.

"That was harsh," Redwillow whispered beside her, "But he really deserved it, didn't he?"

Hollyleaf nodded mutely, tuning out all the noises. Hours passed quickly, and much to soon, the elders were coming out of their den to go and bury the body.

She backed away from the body blankly, watching as they padded away, and she caught one last glimpse of him, his eyes staring, dead, into nothing.

Cats surrounded her quietly, asking what they were supposed to do. She listed things to do and cats mindlessly, then when they were all gone, turned away, and padded towards the warriors den.

Redwillow was in the den, collecting the moss that belonged to Scorchfur, and Hollyleaf went over to help. He blinked gratefully, splitting the bedding in half, then grabbing half, and walking out. She followed closely, dropping a couple of strands of moss in her nest purposely.

They walked into the forest, letting the silence envelope them, then dropped the moss under a tree, and turned around to head back to camp.

Rosekit and Rock-kit ran towards them. "Mommy!" Rosekit yowled, jumping on her.

Rock-kit jumped on her too, "You haven't visited for two whole days!" he cried sadly.

Hollyleaf smiled at them falsely, "Mommy's been busy, little ones." She pushed them off her, turning to Redwillow, "Can you give me a minute to…" her voice cut off, but he got the point and lumbered over to the warriors den.

Rosekit tilted her head curiously, "What's wrong? Where's Daddy?"

Hollyleaf cringed, "Daddy," she squeezed her eyes shut tightly, "Daddy won't be coming back."

Rosekit frowned, and Rock-kit's eyes widened in horror, "F-for how long?" he murmured.

Hollyleaf breathed deeply, "Never. Your father died yesterday."

Rosekit's blank stare deepened until her eyes looked dead, and she sat down, trying to understand, while Rock-kit howled in pain, horror and sadness. "You're lying!" he screamed.

Rosekit took off towards the nursery with a sob, and Rock-kit, letting out another howl, followed closely.

Hollyleaf sighed and headed to the warriors den.

Redwillow looked at her as she padded in, "How'd it go?" he murmured.

"They'll need some time." She muttered, shaking her head.

He nodded understandingly. "Can I…" he started hesitantly, "Can I move my nest next to yours? I used to sleep on the other side of Scorchfur, while you slept on that one."

Hollyleaf nodded, "Yeah."

He gave a small smile and moved his nest over to hers, curling up in it quickly. "G'night." He yawned.

Hollyleaf smiled back, "It's sunhigh."

"Shut up and go to sleep."

**So, Scorchfurs gone, Crowfrost is being a jerk, and Redwillow and Hollyleaf are becoming close friends, brought together by the death of a loved one. I'll update soon, hopefully.**

****Edit: Took the lyrics out because they were against the rules. Please take the time to listen to the song or search it up.****


	5. Iridescent

**You know, I was looking through my fan-fics, and I realized something that made me face-palm, and laugh. My story, The Last Chapter, was 14 chapters long, and had 8,469 words. This story, Come Clean, so far, has 5 chapters, and 13,233 words… so, clearly, I wasn't putting much thought into my fan-fics before. Which annoys the heck out of me… Or maybe I'm improving. **

**Thankies for the reviews~ They make my day~ (Seriously, I jump up and down when I get them)**

**Iridescent – Linkin Park**

"You _attacked_ a clan-mate for StarClans sake!" Blackstar cried in frustration, "You _cannot_ do that! Its against the Warrior Code!"

Hollyleaf glowered at the ground, allowing her leader to scold her, her tail swishing along the ground, stirring up little clouds of dust.

"Are you even listening to me?" He demanded, and then continued without waiting for a reply, "How are you supposed to stay the deputy if you keep doing reckless things like this? How am I supposed to keep trusting you?"

Hollyleaf's head snapped up, and anger swept over her, "_Keep?_" She practically screeched, "You _never _trusted me! You only ever notice me when I do something wrong! What about all the _right _things I've done? How come you never notice them?" she exploded.

He blinked, his blue eyes reopening widely, seeming at a loss for words.

"You never even heard what happened!" She finished, a small sob escaping her, "Do you want to know _why_ I attacked Crowfrost?"

Blackstar looked at her, furiously, but nodded nonetheless.

She took a deep breath, forcing herself to sound calmer, "He told me that I didn't love Scorchfur." She whispered painfully, "He told me I was _using _him." Her body shook lightly as she recalled her conversation with Scorchfur. He was right about not promising to live. _If he had promised, would he have fought harder, and be alive right now?_ she thought miserably, _would the killer be dead instead?_

Sympathy replaced the anger almost instantly, and his bristling fur settled, "I'm sorry to here that Crowfrost has such bitter feelings," he began, "But please control your anger better."

_What about _your_ anger issues?_ Hollyleaf bit her tongue from saying out loud. She had gotten a free pass for now, and talking back would cancel it out pretty quickly. "Sorry, Blackstar. I'm just stressed, and Crowfrost…" she trailed off, not wanting to spew out numerous insults and get in trouble. "I'll take care of the elders today as punishment." She offered instead. She had learned that if you _offered _to do the apprentices work, you would get an approving nod. And she really needed one of them right now.

He nodded, approvingly, as she had known he would, "I'll leave you to it." He turned around, flicking his tail dismissively.

She padded out of his den quickly, before he could say anything else. She walked into the elders den, which was tucked in a large fallen over log, that had been hollow inside, mewing a greeting to the four elders, Whitewater, Snaketail, Tallpoppy and Cedarheart.

Whitetail, a white she-cat, smiled gently, "Hello, Hollyleaf dear, what are you doing, visiting us?"

Hollyleaf smiled back, "Hello, Whitewater." She greeted politely, "I'm here to look for ticks and change your bedding." Of all the elders, Whitewater was probably her favorite. She treated everyone as if they were her kit, and was always happy to see anyone, given they weren't from another clan attacking ShadowClan.

Snaketail tilted his head curiously, "Punishment for attacking Crowfrost?"

Hollyleaf nodded bitterly, while Whitewater frowned in confusion, "What did Crowfrost do this time?" She, like the rest of the clan, knew about Crowfrost's bitter attitude when he wasn't picked as her mate. He had made it plainly obvious that he disliked being chosen over, and had liked to pick fights with the couple anytime he could.

Hollyleaf explained the conversation that had taken place the day before, shifting through the moss, and taking out the old, worn-out pieces.

"Blackstar says I need to control my anger." Hollyleaf finished.

Cedarheart chuckled, and Tallpoppy cuffed him over the head. Snaketail flicked his tail, muttering something about clawing Crowfrost's tail later, and Whitewater blinked pityingly.

Hollyleaf rolled the old moss up in a ball, "I'll be back with some fresh moss soon." She explained quickly, flicking her tail in farewell. She passed her kits as she walked out, and Rosekit looked up at her with wide eyes.

"What are you doing, Mommy?" Rockkit asked, staring at the bundle of moss in her jaws.

"She's taking care of us of course!" Tallpoppy mewed from inside the den, "You kits have a wonderful mother."

Rosekit giggled happily, "I know!" She exclaimed, waltzing into the den, "Can we here a story today?" she asked hopefully.

Cedarheart perked up, "I can tell the one about the fox attack last leafbare!" as he leapt into the details, Hollyleaf padded out of the den.

"Apprentice duties?" A voice behind her questioned in amusement.

Hollyleaf turned, annoyance flashing through her, "What do you need, Crowfrost?" she spat, dropping the moss ball.

He smirked at her, "You honestly think you would get away with no punishment? Think I wouldn't tell the leader you viciously attacked me?"

Her eyes narrowed, "I smacked you over the head, because you insulted me, _and_ a clan-mate that had just died."

"I was just stating the facts." He said, shrugging, "Didn't think it would rile you up so much."

It took all of her control to not attack him again. Instead, she leaned down and picked up the ball again, and padded out of the ShadowClan camp wordlessly, ignoring his snickers and jeers.

"Mouse brain…" she muttered, tossing the moss ball the side of a tree. She raked her claws through the freshly growing moss, wishing that it were Crowfrost's fur, but knowing that if it were, she'd get scolded. Again.

_Crowfrost's fur…_ She thought, _White fur. Like the toadstool killers._ Her claws raked through the moss harder, _Olivenose, at the battle, no one telling her to go, her hate for me and Scorchfur._ A claw chipped off as she raked too hard, but there was no pain, _Ratscar, in a heated argument with Scorchfur, reason unknown._ The wind blew stronger as she snarled with anger, _Redwillow, got chosen over his brother._ The wind howled loudly, picking up twigs and stray strands of moss, _Starlingpaw, to young to have started this, but could have picked up on it, or was told to continue._ Her powers had kicked in, she realized, that was why the sudden storm had come, _Ivytail, says she saw blue eyes watching her, could have been lying, but seems genuinely scared._ She took control of her powers, and the wind calmed, _Whitewater, elder, not out much, wasn't at the battle, couldn't have taken on Scorchfur._

She sighed, _Not Whitewater. Not Starlingpaw. Not Ivytail._ She eliminated, collecting the fresh moss up in her jaws, _Not Redwillow, surely._ She continued, _Olivenose shouldn't have been at the battle. Crowfrost seems calm and happy, yet his former best friend died. Ratscar was in a heated argument. All three were at the battle._ She walked back into camp, sighing through the moss,

''_We've got our suspects.''_

**So. Shorter chapter than usual. Apologies. ^_^ I'm happy that some people are enjoying this story. In all honesty, I still haven't quite registered that**_** I'm**_** writing this. It's a lot better than most my stuff…Kind of a filler though, huh? Seems like it... Meh. **

**Next chapter, some things go on with Olivenose, and Hollyleaf finds help...  
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**Next chapter will be up soon, I guess.**

****Edit: Took the lyrics out because they were against the rules. Please take the time to listen to the song or search it up.****


	6. You're Not Alone

**You know, when I think of this story while listening to Misery Business – Paramore, I think – Olivenose and Hollyleaf much? Oh, and Happy Easter to those who celebrate. I do and don't. Rather, I don't like it because my hamster died on Easter. And my rabbit ran away on Easter… She was clearly the Easter bunny.**

**Amy Grant – You're Not Alone**

**Redwillow's POV-ish thing...**

Redwillow glanced up from his fresh-kill as the entrance to camp rustled.

Hollyleaf padded in, glancing around suspiciously, with a wad of fresh moss in her mouth, and dust covering her pelt.

Redwillow got to his feet and walked over to her, letting out an _mrrow_ of amusement, "Have a dust bath, Hollyleaf? How immature." Her suspicious and angered gaze turned to him, and he almost flinched at the harshness of them.

Her gaze flicked away from him momentarily as she set down the moss, "It was windy, and dust was blowing everywhere." She told him, sighing.

He blinked, "You look like you were in the middle of it."

She turned to look at her messy fur, and flicked an ear in embarrassment as she realized he was right. "Well, at least _I_ don't have a clump of mouse fur between my teeth." She retorted, picking up the moss and trotting over to the elder's den, while he picked the mouse fur from between his teeth.

Redwillow padded back to his unfinished mouse, nibbling on it carefully, and keeping an eye on the elder's den to see when Hollyleaf emerged.

His ears perked when she walked out, her two kits tumbling out after her, giggling and tackling each other. _They seem to be cheering up._ He noted happily, _Kits can never stay sad for long._

He stood up and stretched before making his way over to the trio, dipping his head politely to the deputy, who looked almost amused by the display of politeness. "And what were you doing in the elder's den, Queen of Dust?" he asked playfully.

She flicked his ear with her tail, annoyance pricking into her eyes, "I preferred the polite nod over your mocking." She mewed, "I was cleaning the nests out. Punishment for attacking a clan-mate."

He nodded in understanding, while her two kits looked up with wide eyes, "Mommy attacked a clan-mate?" Rosekit breathed in amazement.

"Wow…" Rockkit continued.

Rosekit leapt to her paws, "Mommy's amazing!" She cried. Rockkit nodded in eager agreement, and they both took off to the nursery.

Hollyleaf shook her head in amusement, "Kits are so… amazingly hyper."

Redwillow meowed an agreement, then turned to look at Hollyleaf's dirt covered pelt, "Come on, let's get you fed and cleaned up." He said, flicking his tail towards the fresh-kill pile.

She purred in amusement, "You sound like a father."

He shrugged and they made their way over to the fresh-kill pile, where she grabbed a vole, and they settled down.

She took a bite of her vole, glancing around camp. Her eyes landed on Olivenose, and her eyes narrowed, again in suspicion.

He glanced between the two she-cats in confusion. He had known that Olivenose was interested in Scorchfur, but why would Hollyleaf be glaring at her now? "What's going on with Olivenose and you?" he asked, voicing his thoughts, "Are you two still fighting?"

Her gaze lingered on Olivenose for a few more seconds, before she turned and looked down at her vole, poking it anxiously, "No… We haven't talked about it yet…" she whispered.

"Then why were you glaring at her?" He asked as she took the last bite of her food.

She looked down, thinking deeply, before glancing around once more, and standing up, "Let's go for a walk." She meowed with a stretch.

Redwillow titled his head curiously at her avoidance, but stood up with her, stretching each of his legs in turn.

Hollyleaf took off to the entrance of camp, and Redwillow followed at her heels, wondering where they were going. She veered through the forest, easily dodging every tree that appeared in their way.

Redwillow dragged behind, and kicked his legs after her harder, and suddenly the lake appeared in his view.

Hollyleaf slowed down, until she was standing in front of the large body of water, and sat down slowly.

Redwillow padded over to her side, and looked into the water, curiously watching fish swim around, "How do you think fish breath?" He asked, suddenly curious.

Hollyleaf shrugged, frowning thoughtfully at the lake, before turning to him, a serious and somewhat frightened look on her face, "I can trust you, right?" She whispered, glancing around, and at him, suspiciously.

He frowned at her, "Of course." He said, hurt by her suspicion at him, "You know you can."

She nodded slowly, her eyes narrowing thoughtfully, "So I can tell you secrets, right?"

He tilted his head, now curious, "Well, yeah, I guess."

She nodded, again slowly, and breathed deeply,

"The story I'm about to tell you has to stay between us two. You can not tell _anyone_ else, you got that?" She paused, staring at him, and he nodded quickly. "Few cats know about this," she continued unsurely, "And listen carefully, I won't repeat it."

He nodded again, his tail twitching impatiently.

She glanced around, and dove into the story that she had only heard two days ago, but had felt like she had known for seasons.

Redwillow listened closely through her horrifying story, eyes widening, and so weak-legged that he sat down in a daze.

"And that brings it to us, here now. I want your help with something." Hollyleaf hesitated uncertainly, "I want you to help me catch the killer."

Redwillow stared at her dumbly for a moment, then, as it started registering in his head what she meant, opened his mouth to sputter out nonsense of shock.

Hollyleaf swished her tail, waiting patiently for him to stop sputtering.

He stopped after a few moments, jaw still gaping open in amazed horror, then took a deep breath and tried again, "Are you sane?" He cried, "You want _us_ to go after a _killer_?" she nodded, and he stared at her incredulously, "We're just normal cats, Hollyleaf! What do you think _we_ can do?" She opened her mouth, but he kept going, "This cat has seasons of training, an-and we have… we have-"

"Seasons of training?" Hollyleaf suggested, "We've been trained, too, Redwillow. And there is _two_ of us. And we're not regular warriors, Redwillow. I've got powers!" She waved her tail dismissively, "All I need you to do, is have my back. Can you handle that?" She asked calmly, placing her tail on his shoulders soothingly.

He sighed deeply, "You're getting in way over your head." He meowed with a shake of his head, "But I have no choice, do I You've just went and put a _lot_ of faith in me." He took a deep breath, preparing for the words that he dreaded, and was effectively excited to hear: "I'll help you."

She stared at him; eyes shining, and a large smile making its way onto her face, "Thank you, thank you, thank you! I knew I could trust you!" She cried, winding herself around him.

He backed away from her, "Now, now, calm down. You were obviously expecting me to agree to help, anyway."

She grinned cheekily, "_May_-be." She chirped. She shook herself, her face suddenly becoming serious, "This is very dangerous. We might not make it through this." She mewed worriedly.

Redwillow sighed, "I'm aware of the consequences, Hollyleaf. If I wasn't aware of them, I wouldn't have agreed to your crazy idea."

Hollyleaf nodded, "For Scorchfur?" She asked, raising a tail, waiting for him to cross it over with hers, to signal that they were in this together.

With one last shake of his head, and a muttered, "I must be mouse-brained." He raised his tail into the air, and crossed it over hers.

With a triumphant yowl, Hollyleaf took off back towards camp, "Race you!" She screamed over her shoulder.

Redwillow rolled his eyes at her, but smiled and took off after her, "Why are you so excited?" He gasped, trotting next to her, "We haven't won yet."

She sped up determinedly, "Because," she said slowly, "Now we're one step closer to _winning_!" She leaped up into the air and swatted at a low branch as she meowed the word _winning_.

Redwillow chased after her desperately, "How are you so fast?" He demanded, trailing behind unhappily.

She slowed her pace slightly so he could hear her reply, "I'm part WindClan, remember? So I'm fast." She meowed easily.

Redwillow blinked at her bluntness, remembering how much she had hated that she was part WindClan when she had announced that her family was tainted.

"How can you say that so easily?" He whispered to himself. The thought of being anything but ShadowClan almost disgusted him. ShadowClan was brought up thinking they were the best, and they got treated badly, so it was natural to feel like that.

"Pardon?" Hollyleaf called from up ahead.

Redwillow blinked, being brought back into the present, and sped up so he was almost at her heels, "Nothing."

Hollyleaf managed an uncaring –and unknowing- shrug, not slowing down through her shoulders odd movement.

Hollyleaf zoomed through the entrance of the camp, and turned around, rearing up on her hind legs, "I beat you!" She exclaimed happily, batting her paws in the air.

Redwillow trotted in a moment after, panting heavily, "That's not fair…" he breathed loudly, coming to a halt beside her.

She slammed her paws down on him, coming down from her hind legs, "What was that?" She asked his fallen figure innocently, "I couldn't hear you over my awesome victory."

He glared up at her awkwardly, "Stupid." He rasped.

She placed a paw on his side, and raised her head victoriously, "I win!" She cried down at him.

He glared at her for another second, then let his head fall on the ground tiredly, "Whatever…" He grumbled.

"What's this?" Sneered a voice, bringing them both back to the real world. They both turned towards the source, and came face-to-face with Olivenose, "Gotten over your first mate already, Hollyleaf?"

Hollyleaf glanced down at Redwillow, meeting his gaze, knowing they were both thinking the same thing, '_She can't be trusted._'

She looked back up at the tortoiseshell she-cat, her gaze lingering on one of her white patches of fur suspiciously, before moving up to her blue eyes. She curled her lip up in hatred, stronger than before as she thought of this cat clawing at her mates pelt viciously. "What exactly do you want, Olivenose?" she spat, venom of the hatred dripping into her words.

Olivenose blinked, taken aback by the sudden large amount of hatred that the she-cat that she faced held for her, "Well," she snapped, regaining her senses and putting up her disgusted face, "_I_ was wondering how you managed to get another mate so soon after your first – presuming Scorchfur _was_ your first?"

Hollyleaf and Scorchfur both got the hidden message in there, and Hollyleaf released her hold on Redwillow hastily, "He was my first," she spat, eyes narrowing dangerously, "and he will be my last."

Olivenose's eyes flicked to Redwillow, trying to see his reaction to Hollyleaf's announcement. He was unbothered, knowing that he'd feel like scum if he'd even _tried_ to get Hollyleaf after his brother's death, "It's obvious you've moved on." She continued, displeasured that Redwillow was happy with the formerly announced, "I mean, since when have _you _played like that?" Hollyleaf opened her mouth to interject, but Olivenose kept going, "Since Scorchfur was alive - what was it? I think about between two and three days ago."

Hollyleaf helped Redwillow to his feet, her attention trained on the she-cat in front of her, "A little fun doesn't hurt, Olivenose. What else better to rid of the unhappiness and pain?" She meowed, frowning at the cat before her, "You don't seem extremely bothered by the death of 'the only cat you'll ever be able to love, that _I_ stole from you'." Hollyleaf mimicked what Olivenose had said to her one day when they were on the same hunting patrol, "Besides, my life has nothing to do with you anymore." Redwillow could almost hear the rest of what she wanted to say, "_It doesn't, does it?_" But the words were left unspoken for the moment.

"Are you sure?" Olivenose said in a challenging voice, before stalking away, tail swishing in annoyance and bitterness.

Redwillow watched her stalk off with wide eyes, and his gaze met Hollyleaf's again, the last words that were uttered in the argument lingering in the air, _"Are you sure?"_

"I think this suspect might've just given us a reason to watch her closely." Hollyleaf mewed, sitting down beside Redwillow, and licking a paw and slowly dragging it over her ear, her eyes following Olivenose's every movement.

**Reviews make the suicidal thoughts go away~ No pressure or anything though.**

**Just kidding, I'll be suicidal anyway.**

**Aren't I a bundle of joy?**

**But I'm really happy that I have 24 reviews. Seriously, I feel like I'm going to cry.**

****Edit: Took the lyrics out because they were against the rules. Please take the time to listen to the song or search it up.****


	7. Turn It Off

**Turn it Off - Paramore**

_"Hollyleaf padded through the brush in confusion. Where was she? She had been in ShadowClan moments ago, hadn't she? A small crowd of rats rushed passed her, and she leapt back in shock. _These aren't rats_, she realized, _Their fur is white, not gray_…? They squeaked loudly, bumping into each other in a mad rush to get somewhere._

_One of the rats stopped in front of her and stared curiously. It leaned down, and dropped something, before taking off after the others with a loud squeal._

_Hollyleaf stared down at the item it had dropped. '_A nut_?' she thought incredulously, _They dropped a _nut_ for me?_ She looked at it closer, _No. A berry._ She realized, pawing at it curiously. The white oval shape wiggled, then lay still._

_With a shrug, she continued through the confusing, unfamiliar territory. Squawks of varieties of birds rose around her, but as much as she looked, she couldn't find a single one. A couple of more mice –or rats, it was hard to tell- ran by her, seemingly not frightened by the bigger creature with the claws able to kill them with a single swipe. She glared at them, annoyed, and swiped a paw at one of them._

_Her paw bounced off of nothing, unable to hit her target, and she recoiled with a gurgled cry of shock._

_The rodents turned to her, and a small spark of fear went through her. She couldn't touch these. _Will they attack me?_ she thought fearfully, backing up a couple of steps, _Can _they_ touch _me_?

_They squeaked at each other, and then all turned and scurried away, leaving Hollyleaf breathing a sigh of relief. She looked around cautiously, noticing a path that led up a hill, and quickly padded up it, trying to figure out where she was._

_A bush rustled close to her, and she whipped her head around to glare suspiciously at it. A flash of blue eyes caught her attention, and she lunged towards the bush. Her claws ripped away at the leaves, and in the middle of the bush was-_

_Nothing._

_There was nothing there._

_She turned and glanced around, frightened at the thought of her being followed in this unfamiliar territory. "Who's there?" She cried in frustration, turning in circles. She halted, her tail swishing, snarled at whatever was there, and continued her trek of the unknown._

_Another pack of rats ran by her. Her gaze followed them, but she kept walking, finding no point in paying attention to them when she now knew she couldn't do them any harm. One of them chased after her, and dropped another nut, similar to the first one._

_She batted at the rodent impatiently, and trotted away from it, veering off the path, and into the tree crowded forest._

_A loud bird call caught her attention, and she turned towards it, ears pricked. A white bird sat a few feet in front of her._

A dove?_ Hollyleaf mused, inching closer to it, _No. It's too bulky to be a dove. Dove's are daintier than that._ She crouched down, preparing to leap at it, testing if she could touch this mysterious creature, when she was interrupted._

_A brown blur slammed into the bird, which let out a strangled cry that was cut off spontaneously. It sat up, a feather falling from its mouth, and Hollyleaf took a step of shock backwards._

_A she-cat stood in front of her, brown fur shining cleanly, one of her paws, that was holding down the dead bird, was black, and her ice blue eyes caught Hollyleaf's almost coldly._

"_That was my prey." Hollyleaf growled lowly, holding back a shiver of fear, "And who are you?"_

_The she-cat opened her mouth, and it moved quickly, no sound coming out._

_Hollyleaf tilted her head in confusion, "W-what?" She mouthed again, this time slower, but Hollyleaf still couldn't follow, "I'm sorry, I don't understand…?" Hollyleaf wriggled uncomfortably, glancing around, trying to avoid the other she-cat's gaze._

_The other she-cat rolled her eyes impatiently, and once again opened her mouth, but before she could start mouthing again, the bird under her paw, which Hollyleaf had assumed dead, shook violently, and sprung at Hollyleaf._

'Run!_' She barely heard the urgent whisper of who she recognized to be Scorchfur, who wasn't anywhere in sight._

_She flailed her paws at the bird with a wail of shock, and the world around her blackened._

Hollyleaf lurched up, gasping for breath, ears flattened against her head.

A pair of surprised blue eyes met hers, "Are you okay?" she heard from the mouth of the figure that was slightly hunched over her.

She blinked once, catching her breath, and looked at the cat in front of her. She barely retained her hiss of distaste, "I'm fine, Ratscar," She snapped weakly, "Go back to sleep."

He looked at her oddly, but weaved his way over to his nest, with a small, muttered, "I wasn't asleep in the first place…"

Hollyleaf stared after him, head spinning, and inched closer to Redwillow unsurely, before laying her head back on her paws and trying to drift back to sleep.

Hollyleaf blinked her eyes open, and stretched her neck up slowly.

The den was almost full with still sleeping cats, but Hollyleaf stood up, slowly stretching out her legs, and padding out of the den quietly, trying to not disturb the other warriors.

The sun shone down brightly for such an early state, and Hollyleaf blinked, disturbed by the bright light in her eyes, _That's one way to wake up._ She thought with a growl.

She surveyed the camp quickly. The fresh-kill pile was stocked up with stale mice, birds and frogs from the previous day, and few cats mulled around, grumbling tiredly.

Redwillow and Applefur were eating together in a small shaded area near the side of camp, Rockkit and Rosekit were both roaming around, looking around in boredom, Ratscar was standing by the fresh kill, looking around awkwardly, as though something seemed out of place.

Rock-kit noticed her, and zoomed towards her with a cry of happiness, "Mommy!" Rosekit, now noticing her mother too, chased after him. Rockkit bowled Hollyleaf over, and leaned down to lick her nose, "You stopped visiting!" he whined loudly.

Hollyleaf pushed him of her lightly, and sat up, sticking her tongue out at Redwillow, who was watching with much amusement. "Sorry," she apologized, now fully awake.

Rosekit looked at her hopefully, "When will see Daddy again?"

Hollyleaf blinked down in surprise, "W-well I told you that he wasn't coming back."

Rosekit nodded seriously, "But we'll see him again someday, won't we? In StarClan?"

Hollyleaf's eyes softened, "Yes, little one. But not anytime soon, got it?"

Rosekit nodded again, albeit a little sadder, "But we will?"

Hollyleaf licked her daughter's head, "Of course."

She ducked away with a noise of disgust, and a cry of: "Ew! Mommy spit!" she head-butted Rockkit, "It's on you now!" She ran away from her brother as he got to his feet.

"That's not fair!" Rockkit wailed after her, then raced towards her as she hid behind the nursery walls.

Hollyleaf rolled her eyes, and padded towards Redwillow and Applefur. Redwillow nodded a lazy greeting, and Applefur frowned at Hollyleaf's intruding on her time alone with Redwillow. "Good morning, you two. You're up early." She greeted politely.

Redwillow nodded again, and yawned, "Woke and couldn't get back to sleep. Plus Ratscar kept fidgeting." He sent a glance towards the tom that was still by the fresh-kill pile, "He seems pretty disturbed about something." He sent a meaningful glance towards Hollyleaf.

Hollyleaf nodded, "I'll go talk to him." She started padding away, but not before adding in a quick tease, "Besides, I'm sure you two want your alone time."

Redwillow stuttered out embarrassed nonsense and Applefur let out an insulted: "Hey!"

Hollyleaf approached Ratscar cautiously, "Is everything alright, Ratscar?"

He jumped, and turned towards her unsurely, "Uh, uh, y-yeah. I'm fine. W-why?" he stuttered.

"You just seem a bit jumpy." She said calmly, "Sorry for snapping at you last night. I had a nightmare."

He nodded, looking anywhere but her, "I-I am a bit jumpy, huh? I'm just fretting." He chuckled.

Hollyleaf tilted her head curiously, "Fretting? Whatever about?"

Ratscar looked around the camp, a frown falling, "I haven't seen Owlclaw since sun-high yesterday. He was supposed to be back last night." His eyes filled with worry.

Hollyleaf's breath caught in her throat, "Now that you mention it, I haven't seen him." She glanced towards Redwillow, who was glancing at her every couple of moments, to Applefurs annoyance, "I'm sure he's fine." She said quickly, though she herself was unsure as well, "He probably just fell asleep or something…"

Ratscar nodded slowly, not looking reassured.

Hollyleaf flicked her tail in farewell, and padded back towards the other two.

"So?" Redwillow asked as she sat down shakily beside them.

Her eyes caught his, "Owlclaw is missing."

He shot to his paws, eyes widening in panic, "Missing?"

Hollyleaf placed her tail calmingly on his side, understanding his sudden panic; Owlclaw was Redwillow's only other brother, and he suddenly disappeared, right after Redwillow found out about the string of continuous murderers. "Everyone is starting to wake up; I'll tell them to keep an eye out for him." He nodded sadly, so she added, "And you, Applefur, Olivenose and I can go on a patrol to look for him."

He looked up, hope and understanding flashing through his eyes, and Applefur nodded in agreement, worry evident in her green eyes.

Hollyleaf glanced towards the warrior's den hurriedly, "Go wake up some cats," she told Applefur. She nodded and ran towards the den, leaping inside quickly, and disappearing out of sight.

"Olivenose and Applefur…?" Redwillow asked unsurely.

Hollyleaf nodded, "Tell Applefur you smell some prey, and you two go off somewhere. I'll talk with Olivenose meanwhile."

He nodded, "Are trying to set me and Applefur up?" He asked in amusement.

She grinned sheepishly, "Perhaps?"

He smirked at her and shook his head, "When will you ever learn?" he scolded jokingly.

She flicked her ear, turning her attention towards the warriors den as Applefur hurried out, "I woke up a good chunk if the warriors." She huffed, sitting next to Redwillow.

Hollyleaf nodded her thanks, and watched as cats filed out of the den, grumbling unhappily at being awoken. "I'm setting up patrols," Hollyleaf called to them, gaining their attention. They crowded around her, shaking themselves awake.

"Tawnypelt, you can lead a patrol of Smokefoot, Ivytail and Ratscar hunting. Rowanclaw, ThunderClan border, along with Toadfoot, Shrewfoot and Dawnpelt. Tigerheart, RiverClan border patrol, with Kinkfur, Starlingpaw and Pinepaw. I'll be leading a hunting patrol of Redwillow, Olivenose and Applefur." She ignored Olivenose's suspicious glare, "I want you all to keep an eye out for Owlclaw. He didn't come back yesterday, and was supposed to be here by now."

The patrols went to their proper leaders, and headed out to do their duties, and Hollyleaf turned towards the three cats for her patrol, "Keep a close eye out for Owlclaw. I'm worried."

Hollyleaf sprinted out of camp, eager to start looking for her missing clan mate. Redwillow pelted ahead of her, fear scent drifting off his pelt. Applefur trotted beside Redwillow, and Olivenose strayed a few feet behind Hollyleaf.

Redwillow said something to Applefur, and looked over his shoulder at Hollyleaf for permission to leave the group. Hollyleaf slower her pace slightly and nodded determinedly as Redwillow and Applefur veered towards the left, chasing after prey that may or may not exist.

Silence fell over the two she-cats, and Hollyleaf struggled to find words to say in such a situation. "I smell a mouse over there." She sighed; pointing her tail towards a small path that lead through some trees and bushes.

"W-wait!" Olivenose said behind her suddenly.

Hollyleaf turned around to face Olivenose in surprise, "Y-yeah?"

Olivenose turned to the ground, shuffling her paws, "Ah… I wanted… to talk to you about something." Hollyleaf sat down expectantly, and she continued hesitantly, "Um. W-well, this is kind of awkward," she scoffed, "but I wanted to apologize. I was a real big jerk, and I shouldn't have acted how I did." Her gaze flicked to Hollyleaf, "I was hopping that you could forgive me for being so horrible to you. I'm not usually like that – really!"

Hollyleaf gaped at her in surprise. The _last_ thing she was expecting was an apology. "I… I can't forgive you until you answer a question of mine."

Olivenose nodded at her confusedly, "Sure, ask away."

Hollyleaf turned her head towards a nearby bird in a tree, avoiding Olivenose's gaze, "Why were you at the battle with ThunderClan when you weren't listed as a fighter?"

Olivenose did a double take, "What? What do you mean?" She asked, "Y-you saw me?" Hollyleaf nodded. "Oh… promise you won't smack me?" Hollyleaf nodded again, amused. "I was spying on you. I wanted to see if you were really loyal to ShadowClan or ThunderClan. And I saw you talking to your brother in the middle of the battle, so I got suspicious of you…" she glanced around the clearing awkwardly, "But you haven't really been doing anything suspicious, so…" She trailed off, "Anyway – forgive and forget?"

Hollyleaf stared at her blankly, "You were spying on me…" She repeated slowly, letting all of Olivenose's explanation sink in, "So you came to watch me throughout the battle…" she continued, nodding slowly to herself, "I see…"

"So?" Olivenose persisted hopefully.

She blinked, shocked, "Uh, yeah, I guess I forgive you." Hollyleaf mewed, _But that doesn't take you off the suspects list._ She added mentally.

Olivenose's face lit up like Hollyleaf had just given her the day off, "Really?" Hollyleaf nodded, "Like, _really_ really?" her body was vibrating with excitement.

Hollyleaf's tail tip twitched with a mix of amusement and annoyance, "Yes, really. Really really really."

Olivenose literally jumped with joy, "Thank you so much!" She cried, twirling herself around Hollyleaf gleefully, "I'll make up my horrible deeds somehow, just you wait!"

Doubts suddenly clouded Hollyleaf's mind, _Seeing this side of Olivenose, I'm having trouble believing she's a killer._

Olivenose rushed ahead of her, "Come on, then; we've got hunting to do." She called over her shoulder, running forwards again, so she was out of sight.

Hollyleaf leaped to her, "Wait up!" Hollyleaf cried quietly, not wanting to scare away any nearby prey.

That thought was ruined when a bloodcurdling shriek came from up ahead.

Hollyleaf sped up to full speed, fear spiking at her soul, "Olivenose!" She called desperately, narrowly dodging a tree. Another wail answered her, and she followed the sound closely.

Olivenose's figure appeared, head pointing up in another scream, fur bristling, and the scent of fear and blood surrounding her. Hollyleaf slowed her pace as she approached Olivenose, catching sight of what had caused her such reaction.

Owlclaw's body lay sprawled out in front of them, dried blood crusted around his neck and spread across the area's ground. His eyes were wide with shock, fear and pain, and his mouth was open in an unheard cry for help.

Olivenose buried her face in Hollyleaf's fur, shivering with fear, sobs racking her body.

"What's going on?" A voice called close by them. Hollyleaf identified it as Redwillow, "Hollyleaf?"

"Don't come over here!" Hollyleaf called desperately, "Just… go back to camp and get Blackstar!"

"What? What's going on?" Bushes rustled, and Redwillow crawled through them, trotting towards Hollyleaf worriedly. Until his eyes caught Owlclaw.

Another scream filled the air, and Hollyleaf cringed in pain. "This can't be happening!" Redwillow shrieked at the top of his lungs, "No! No! No!" he repeated over and over and over again. His legs collapsed on him, and he fell to the ground weakly, still calling out, voice cracking in horror, "No, no, no…"

The bushes rustled again, and Applefur and Blackstar appeared, Applefur's eyes wide with worry. Blackstar's eyes popped open widely, and he approached the body. He leaned over it, examining the fatal neck wound, eyes clouding over with sadness, and his mouth mouthing the word 'Toadstool.'

"No, no, no…" Redwillow continued to call loudly.

Applefur sat next to Redwillow, whispering into his ear in a hushed tone, tail stroking his fur soothingly.

Olivenose glanced at the body again, and winced, turning back away from it with a pained grimace.

Blackstar turned to them, his eyes catching Hollyleaf's, his eyes asking hopefully that she had caught the killer. She shook her head slightly, and his eyes fell in disappointment, "Come on, you four. We need to get back to camp." He picked up Owlclaw's scruff, and Hollyleaf reached down to grab some loose skin on his back to help Blackstar carry him. Olivenose walked beside Hollyleaf, a look of grief imprinted on her face, and Applefur led Redwillow along.

"No, no, no…" she heard him whisper quietly.

**Aw, I killed another character… only one more left to kill. Who, you ask? Like I'd tell you! Just over six pages long! I'm so proud but theirs only 3,100 words. Sigh, that's pretty good though. Just wish it could be longer, as usual. **

**Probably my favorite chapter yet - I loved writing the dream sequence. Especially because I'm the only one who understands **_**exactly**_** what's going on.**

****Edit: Took the lyrics out because they were against the rules. Please take the time to listen to the song or search it up.****


	8. I Will Not Bow

**Sorry for not updating yesterday… I couldn't find a song… But, uh, enjoy.**

**This song makes me think of The Hunger Games… actually almost everything does, so I guess it doesn't matter.**

**I Will Not Bow – Breaking Benjamin**

Three days had passed since the death of Owlclaw, and the entire camp had been tense, and untrusting towards each other. The only cats that seemed to trust each other were Hollyleaf, Redwillow and Applefur, who had became a close friend right after the death of Redwillow's other brother. Olivenose was an exception – Hollyleaf talked to her, only half trusting her, though.

Her feelings towards her were mixed up because of the second death; she was still wary of her, her still being a suspect. But Hollyleaf had trouble believing that if she had indeed killed him, she wouldn't break like that. Especially after Olivenose admitted to have started having feelings for the tom.

Ratscar was starting to seem more like a suspect now, and less of just another warrior. The night that Owlclaw didn't come back was also the one where Ratscar had come back late; claiming he hadn't went to sleep at approximately moon-high, and was also the one to report Owlclaw missing, when no one else had noticed. Her dream had also had those white rat-like creatures that seemed to be everywhere, but unable to touch.

Crowfrost was also on her list of suspects, but hadn't been doing anything suspicious lately, and had went back to how it was before Redwillow was in the picture; being polite and somewhat flirty, to which she ignored coldly.

All of the mishaps of recent had caused Hollyleaf to be overly busy, making sure that patrols were comfy with who they were with, and ensuring that they never let one cat go off by themselves. Olivenose was being haunted by nightmares of running across the body over and over again, and Redwillow had been paranoid, thinking that after his two brothers, he'd be next, and Applefur silently comforted him.

In the present, Hollyleaf and Redwillow were walking down to the beach, preparing to talk about the newest addition to the killers many murderers.

Redwillow's paranoia caused him to glance around self-consciously. Hollyleaf held back from snapping at him; she could understand that he was paranoid after both of his brothers being murdered, but it was irritating to watch him twitch every time she stepped on a twig or old leaf.

She let out a small, silent sigh of relief as the ground turned into sand, and the sound of waves lapping at the ground became apparent. With a cautious glance around, she started, "Let's look through our suspects again." She said thoughtfully, "Anyone with blue eyes; that means Ratscar, Olivenose, Crowfrost, Shrewfoot, Pinepaw, Snowbird, Ivytail and… you." Redwillow opened his mouth to protest, but Hollyleaf interrupted him, "I'm not counting you, though."

He rolled his eyes, "I was _going _to say you forgot someone," He mewed. Hollyleaf titled her head, listing all of the cats in the clan with blue eyes, "Blackstar!" Redwillow whispered furiously.

Hollyleaf stared at him blankly, "Blackstar?" she asked with an eye roll, "Why would _he_ kill his warriors?"

"He was always different," He said, nodding seriously, "He was kicked out of the clan because he was a follower of Brokenstar; a murderer! He was taken back when Tigerstar became leader! When those two were leaders, he was a tool used to kill clan mates. What if he couldn't stop?" He explained.

Hollyleaf stared at him dumbly, "Blue eyes." She choked out, and he nodded again, "White fur…" her throat tightened, "He was at the battle, and was around when the first murder happened." She sat down, eyes wide with horror, "How long have you been thinking of this?" She asked him numbly.

"Yesterday was actually when I noticed. And the pieces kept falling into place." He gave her a look of sympathy, "And who would ever expect the leader of the clan?"

She shook her head roughly, "No! Not possible!" she dug her claws into the soft sand, "Others still fit the criteria too!"

"I know." He agreed, "I'm just saying he should be watched."

She nodded, "Single out the cats with blue eyes with white fur; Olivenose, Ratscar, Crowfrost, Ivytail, Snowbird… Blackstar and you…

"Motivation; You, Ivytail and Snowbird have none. Olivenose was infatuated with him, so I'm going to put her as a not so much. Crowfrost… nothing. Ratscar, nothing – but he went to sleep sometime after everyone else, and was the only one to actually mention that he hadn't returned. Blackstar… well, we discussed him."

They were silent as they thought about the suspects.

"Ratscar seems most likely at the moment." Redwillow decided, "But remember what Olivenose said; '_Are you sure?_' she's still in there."

Hollyleaf nodded agreement, but frowned, troubled, "But she's pretty choked up about the death of Owlclaw. Do you think there are two killers on the loose?"

Redwillow thought this over carefully, "Could be. One of them doing the same thing as the other out of cleverness, or maybe they know who the killer is and are taking their chance at killing for some disgusting reason."

Hollyleaf head drooped sadly, "There's so many possibilities," She sighed deeply, "This is getting harder and harder."

"Start with Olivenose. She's starting to seem less likely, but I can't forget her words."

Hollyleaf nodded in quick agreement, "I'll just ask to go for a walk with her, and if she doesn't do anything suspicious for awhile, I'll start asking questions." She meowed, "But you'll be with us, hidden in the shadows, spying."

He mewed his consent, and they made their way back to camp, making small talk.

The trip back was easier than the trip there. Redwillow to deep in thought to jump at every single noise there was, and Hollyleaf was awkwardly wondering how to approach the recent death with Olivenose.

They approached the entrance just as the sun-high patrol, consisting of Tawnypelt, Shrewfoot, Tigerheart and Crowfrost, made their way out.

Crowfrost eyed the pair suspiciously, "And what were you two doing out, alone, this fine day?" he asked suspiciously.

Hollyleaf paid him no mind, while Redwillow answered with an easy, "Not that it's any of your business, but we were talking."

He snorted disbelievingly, but followed after the rest of the patrol.

"Even if he _isn't _the killer," she growled after him, "I still hate him."

Redwillow mewed agreement, recalling his first brother's death, and Crowfrost's claims that Hollyleaf didn't care.

"Okay," She whispered, "I'll grab Olivenose, and we'll head out for some air, and you follow us – in secret, and quietly." He swished his tail, "If she _does_ attack me, run back to camp and tell Blackstar immediately, you can't risk your life."

He looked at her desperately, "_What_? If you get attacked, I'm helping you!"

She shook her head, "I'll survive - really! If you go get help, you're saving more than me; you're saving all of the Clans." He continued to stare at her, unhappiness glistening his eye. "Besides, we have no proof it's her yet anyway – just hints and clues."

He sniffed disdainfully, but allowed her to pad off towards Olivenose, who was lounging around the fresh-kill pile, glancing at it uncertainly as she wondered if she should eat or not.

"Hey, Olivenose," Hollyleaf greeted, "Want to go for a walk?"

Olivenose looked towards her, eyes instinctively narrowing with hostility, before they opened normally, with a spark of guilt, "H-hello, Hollyleaf," She greeted back awkwardly, not used to speaking to her former-rival formally, "Sure, I guess."

Hollyleaf smiled in a friendly, comforting way that she had learned when she had become a mother, and when she saw Olivenose's muscles relax slightly, she knew that it had the same affect on the she-cat. They made their way towards the entrance, where Redwillow was loitering and shuffling around with an awkward look on his face, and Hollyleaf sent him a short nod.

Silence fell over them. Hollyleaf was starting to get tired of them.

"So," She began again, once they were a suitable rate away from camp, "The weathers been nice…" She refrained from smacking herself into a tree at the stupidity of what she said.

"Yeah, I guess." Olivenose murmured to her, eyes on the ground, "I haven't been paying enough attention to it to really notice."

Hollyleaf nodded, _Too busy thinking about Owlclaw? Or about the perfect murderer?_ She dug her claws into the damp ground angrily, _Say it!_ she yelled mentally at herself, wishing that she could just blurt it out.

Olivenose sent her a glance, "Is there something you want?" She asked blankly, "You couldn't just want to 'go for a walk' with me."

Hollyleaf paused, _Take this chance!_ her mind willed obnoxiously. "Ah, actually yeah, I wanted to ask you something." She paused, and Olivenose sent her another look, and she took a deep breath, preparing for the worst; "Did you kill Scorchfur?"

There was more silence as Olivenose stopped walking, frozen with one paw raised for the next step, and her mouth now dangling open in disbelief. Her eyes lit up, and she started laughing suddenly, a dark, bitter laugh that almost scared Hollyleaf, "Did I kill Scorchfur?" she snickered darkly, "Are you serious?"

Hollyleaf nodded mutely.

The paw that was raised lashed out at her, striking Hollylead hard, and she stumbled slightly, before glaring back up at Olivenose, preparing herself for a fight. Before she could attack back, she caught Olivenose's eyes; eyes full of anguish, uncertainness, and almost disgust. "Did I kill Scorchfur?" She shrieked the question back at Hollyleaf, letting her horror pierce through her words, "Why, for the life of me, would I kill Scorchfur – a clan mate, and the cat whom I was in love with?"

Hollyleaf looked down, she herself starting to feel bad. Why would Olivenose kill the cat she loved? Not even rejection would make you do that. "I'm sorry." Hollyleaf mewed shamefully, "Every cat is a suspect."

Olivenose's flaming eyes distinguished, "I know." She murmured quietly, "but I truly did love Scorchfur; and Owlclaw!" she sighed, "When I tripped over his body… I just broke…"

Hollyleaf nodded, "Like I was when Lionblaze showed me Scorchfur."

A meek nod of agreement, "Can I go back to camp?" Olivenose whispered.

Hollyleaf nodded, "But I'm coming with you. A killer on the loose, y'know."

"She wasn't it." Hollyleaf mewed to Redwillow when they were back at camp. Olivenose had made a swift movement towards the warrior's den, and Hollyleaf figured that the conversation had tired her out.

"It sure doesn't seem like it now." Redwillow agreed, "I can't believe she clawed you!"

"I can." Hollyleaf deadpanned, "I would've if it was her that had asked me."

"It's a big accusation," He said thoughtfully, "So who's next on the list of suspects?"

"Crowfrost." Hollyleaf mewed, "Ratscar last, because he's the big one now."

"What about Blackstar?"

"If none of them seem like it, I'll confront him." Hollyleaf coughed, "But I still don't think he'd do it…"

"Me neither," Redwillow meowed, "But everyone's a suspect."

Hollyleaf sighed, "I'll go get Crowfrost; follow us into the forest again."

**So, kind of a bad ending… Next chapter will be Crowfrost's interview.**

**Oh, and Willowfur was the only one to actually realize that Blackstar fitted into the criteria, so everyone, congratulate her. Now.**

****Edit: Took the lyrics out because they were against the rules. Please take the time to listen to the song or search it up.****


	9. Nobody's Home

**At the lyrics: I can't help Hollyleaf either. She's destined to… her fate.**

**Once again, thank you to my lovely reviewers, I love reviews, and you now.**

**So, chapter nine… two more chapters, then the epilogue. Please don't kill me. You'll understand that later. AND THEN IT'S SEQUELS~ MWUAHAHA.**

**Nobody's Home – Avril Lavigne**

"Well isn't this suspicious?" Crowfrost mocked as they padded out of camp. His tail was twitching ever so slightly, making him look almost nervous.

Hollyleaf nodded curtly, "I suppose it is, isn't it?"

He sniffed unhappily, probably hoping she would start arguing with him. However, she stayed silent, _Just come out with it, like with Olivenose._ She commanded herself. _Yes, because that worked _perfectly_, didn't it?_ her mind countered bitterly, and she became conscious of the pain in her cheek. She took a deep breath, preparing to just burst out the question, when he spoke instead, "Out with it! This is annoying."

She huffed angrily, holding back her retort of, "_I was just going to!_" Instead, she took a small breath, "DidyoukillScorchfur?" she breathed out quickly, flinching away in case he had the same reaction as Olivenose.

He stared at her, allowing annoyance to spark in his eyes, "Please repeat that at a rate I can hear it." He said calmly, though his tail was swishing.

Mental smack to herself for speaking to quickly, "Did you kill Scorchfur?" She mumbled, considerably slower.

He registered this question before snorting, from either disbelief or amusement, Hollyleaf couldn't tell. "Yup. I killed Scorchfur. And while we're at it, I killed Owlclaw, too, because I'm sure that you're going to ask that too." He replied in a somewhat sarcastic voice.

Hollyleaf glared at him, "I'm not kidding!" she cried furiously, "Did you kill them?" she repeated.

He looked at her, a smile curving on his lips, "You're not kidding?" he laughed, "You _honestly_ think I killed my clan mates - and friends!" his eyes flashed dangerously, signaling Hollyleaf to finish this quickly.

"It was just a question," she grumbled out, adding a to quiet to hear, "And yes, I did think that."

"What was that?"

"I said sorry for assuming wrong," Hollyleaf lied almost to quickly, "Go back to camp." She ordered, swishing her tail in its general direction.

He rolled his eyes, murmuring about idiot clan mates as he passed her.

She waited a few moments for the bushes to stop rustling, and for his voice to fade away, before calling out to Redwillow, "Come one out then, Redwillow."

There was a rustle above her, and Redwillow flew out of a tree, landing beside her nimbly, "Why hello there!" he chirped, "Did I surprise you?" he demanded eagerly. She rolled her eyes and shook her head, and his dropped in disappointment, "You just wait, I will…" he threatened lowly.

Hollyleaf snorted, "You make it sound like _you're the_ killer."

He looked up at her, eyes flashing, "I'm the killer!" he cried, flinging himself towards Hollyleaf, tackling her to the ground, "And now," he growled, "I'm going to kill you!" he shoved her face into the mud, "You're dead!"

He leapt off her, and she lifted herself off the ground, glaring at him, "Ha-ha." She mocked.

He laughed when he caught sight of her face, "You're muddy!"

She watched him roll around with laughter, before swiping a paw full of her face, and throwing it towards his.

It landed with a loud _splat_, and Redwillow's laughs cut off into a moaned "Eww," of disgust.

"Serves you right," Hollyleaf grumbled, padding past him, and towards the camp, "wipe your face off, dope."

"What about yours?"

She paused, considering this, and then wiped it off her, once again throwing it at Redwillow, who let out a cry of protest, "All better." She meowed, examining her face in one of the many puddles that lived in ShadowClan territory.

Redwillow cursed behind her, and she continued on her way before he could fling some back.

As she padded back into camp, the first thing she noticed was Crowfrost's glare on her almost instantly. She turned away from him uncomfortably, heading towards Blackstars den as she remembered that he wanted to talk to her about who would go to the gathering. She called out for an invitation to go into his den.

"Come in," came the reply moments later. She padded in hesitantly, pausing as she caught his impatient gaze on her, "I was expecting you earlier," he growled.

She uttered out an apology, uncomfortable since her talk with Redwillow, _You wouldn't do this, would you? And then blame me for being disloyal?_

"No matter," he meowed, stretching his legs. Her eyes followed his legs movements, _Sharp claws, well muscled, white furred, blue eyed, had a knack for killing when he was younger._ She scolded herself heavily in her mind, as Blackstar continued, "I want to bring all of the apprentices with us, because sometime in the next moon they'll become warriors," He mewed, either not noticing, or choosing to ignore, her discomfort, "It doesn't really matter who else comes, so you pick out who you want and go tell them so we can head out soon."

Hollyleaf nodded blankly, having barely paid attention, but managed to realize that she was to pick everyone, plus the apprentices, and quickly made her leave. Crowfrost's accusing glare was on her in a second, soon added by Redwillow's, who was probably plotting some sort of revenge. She ignored the two, and made her way to the middle of camp, calling attention to the cats that were presently in camp. They gathered around her eagerly, wanting to know if they were lucky enough to be able to go to this gathering.

"You all know why I'm gathering you here," she began simply, "I would like to name off the cats going to the gathering tonight." She paused, and no one intercepted, "Tigerheart, Olivenose, Shrewfoot, Dawnpelt, Rowanclaw, Ratscar, Applefur, Redwillow, Ivytail, and all of the apprentices will be coming. Dismissed." She had only named the cats at random, but was glad that the outcome was fine, and that all of them were in camp currently, and had heard they were going.

Redwillow walked up to her, "You picked all of those cats randomly, didn't you?" he received Hollyleaf's sheepish smile as an answer, "Well, at least I'm going." He paused, blinked, and flung a paw full of dust at her, "And that is my revenge." Hollyleaf cried out angrily after his retreating figure, "Later, chicka!"

Hollyleaf glared after him, then rolled her eyes at his choice of a nickname. Cedarheart had met a cat that had called his now-dead mate 'chika' all the time, and it had bugged him to no end.

She shrugged it off, remembering to smack him later for giving her such a ridiculous nickname, and rushed back over to Blackstar's den to tell him who was coming, and thanking StarClan she had enough of a brain to remember who she had requested come.

And after what was half a day, but only felt like it was only a blink of an eye, ShadowClan was on their way to the island that held the once-a-moon gathering tradition.

Blackstar was in the lead, chatting quietly with Ivytail, probably about the recent killings. Rowanclaw was behind him, chatting idly with his kids, Tigerheart and Dawnpelt. Shrewfoot, Olivenose and Ratscar were padding together silently, on occasion making snide comments about RiverClan's territory, and all the 'paws were all fidgeting happily and talking loudly, excited and honored to be able to go to a gathering. Applefur, Redwillow and Hollyleaf were grouped together at the end of the clan, Applefur and Redwillow happily meowing to each other, their fur almost brushing, Hollyleaf staying silent, eyes dead ahead.

The island crept into her vision, and she hurried her pace slightly, wanting to get there and have it over with. Had it really been so little time Scorchfur's death? And Owlclaw's?

_The killer's striking. Fast._ She thought grimly, an almost unnoticeable frown dawning on her face. She glanced towards Redwillow, _I shouldn't have told him,_ she flicked her gaze away from him, aiming it ahead once again, _I've forced this onto him without thinking of his feelings._ But she had thought of his feelings; that was precisely why she had told him. If someone had murdered her brothers, she'd want to know what was happening. _I'm thinking to much about his feelings,_ she decided, _He'll be burdened by this, but more careful and probably a bit more relieved._

Hollyleaf paused at the fallen-tree-bridge, letting Applefur and Redwillow go before her, and then crossing herself. ShadowClan was the last clan to arrive, Hollyleaf realized disappointedly. Blackstar hated coming last; made them seem slow.

They approached the center of the island quickly - probably Blackstar's doing, so they wouldn't be a lot later than everyone else. The other Clan's were mingling, and a couple of the ShadowClan cats veered off to join groups of friends from other clans. Blackstar was already making his way toward the other leaders and Littlecloud and Flametail both bid farewell, joining the other medicine cats and their apprentices- given they had one. Applefur skipped away from them, going to join the group consisting of Birchfall and Whitewing, two of her friends from the great journey, and with a goodbye wave of his tail, Redwillow followed closely. Hollyleaf barely contained an amused purr and taunt of "_Whipped!_" but managed to bite it back, and refrain embarrassing her friends, and herself.

Instead, she followed joined the other deputies, not really caring for idle chat. She smiled at Brambleclaw, and managed a friendly tail-wave – after all, it would be _very_ rude to ignore her adopted father - and a meow of greeting to the three.

Then she proceeded to stare blankly into the crowd, bored.

Until Redwillow approached her, a confused look on his face, "Your brother wants to talk to you. Sounded kinda excited."

Hollyleaf rose to her paws, looking over the ThunderClan cats, until she caught sight of Lionblaze, who was fidgeting and motioning for her to come over. She had taken one step, when Blackstar called for the gathering to begin. She sat back down again, and sent an apologetic glance at Lionblaze, who had also sat down, tail swishing unhappily.

And then they began, Firestar first. He announced typical things that you would hear – prey was plentiful, no troubles. And they were strong - a subtle hint to ShadowClan. And Cinderheart was pregnant with Lionblaze's kits. Probably the thing he wanted to tell her.

Onestar was next, and he pretty much repeated Firestar, only with other words, names, and no kits as of yet. Then Blackstar, who halfheartedly told all of the clans that Owlclaw was found dead; probably due to a rogue attack. Hollyleaf knew well enough that that was a lie. And so did the other leaders, by the looks on their faces. And last, but not least, Mistystar reporting that a warrior that Hollyleaf hadn't caught the name of was now a queen, prey was starting to lack, and that WindClan was crossing the borders.

A small spat between Mistystar and Onestar.

Firestar attempted to break them up, Onestar turned on him. It all passed in a blur.

Blackstar watched with clear excitement. _At fighting._ Her mind cannot help adding. She shrugged the thought away, and follows the Clan as they start leaving, at Blackstar's signal.

She turned back one last time, and caught her brother's frantic eyes following her. She waved her tail in farewell, _He knows something._ She realized seconds too late. _He's scared for _me_!_

****Edit: Took the lyrics out because they were against the rules. Please take the time to listen to the song or search it up.****


	10. Conspiracy

**I love that everyone keeps changing their minds on who the killer is. It's exactly what I wanted to make people do. Think it's Olivenose or Crowfrost, maybe even Redwillow, change the suspicion over to Blackstar, Ratscar and Redwillow, et cetera. It's really fun… but it's so close to over! I mean, book one. There's still two more.**

**Conspiracy - Paramore**

Hollyleaf slept restlessly that night, afraid of what her brother knew. He definitely had an idea of who the killer was, but Hollyleaf had no way of getting to him; she was deputy, after all, and had duties to attend to here. And Blackstar's suspicion of her was already large enough, and disappearing into ThunderClan territory would set him off on another rant.

So instead of doing what she wanted, she woke up the next morning, tired from not sleeping enough. She wasn't the first one up, she realized, somewhat surprised. It was earlier than the usual time to get up.

"'Scuse me," a meow behind her interrupted her thoughts. Hollyleaf stepped out of way of the entrance to and from the warrior's den, and faced Olivenose awkwardly. Olivenose looked at her reproachfully, almost unsure, "Oh. Hey, Hollyleaf."

Hollyleaf dipped her head in greeting, "Morning, Olivenose…" she trailed off, not knowing how to continue.

Olivenose opened her mouth to say something, but shut it again and headed towards the fresh-kill pile, meeting up with Ratscar on the way.

_Interview Ratscar in spare time._ She reminded herself, _It would be _so_ much easier to just talk to Lionblaze…_ She shook the thought away, and went over to stand by the entrance to ShadowClan's camp, settling down tiredly.

Blackstar came out of his den moments later, stretched, and trotted over to her, "You look awful." He greeted plainly.

She swatted at him impatiently, "I didn't sleep well," she growled angrily.

He sat down next to her, "Is something troubling you, Hollyleaf?"

Hollyleaf did a triple-take, expecting to be scolded, not worried about. "Uh, y-yeah a little."

He wrapped his tail neatly around his paws, "You can tell me, you know."

"Why? You'll end up being mad at me, or thinking me a traitor, or something." She replied bitterly, tail bushing.

"Let's go for a walk," he meowed coolly.

"I have deputy duties."

He huffed impatiently, and then turned to Rowanclaw, "Rowanclaw, you're in charge while me and Hollyleaf are out."

Rowanclaw nodded consent.

Blackstar turned back to her, grinning cheekily, "Now then, come on."

Her heart picked up speed, and Redwillow's words of caution zoomed through her mind. But she couldn't protest, because Blackstar was already shoving her out into the forest.

They walked in silence, Hollyleaf not wanting to talk, because she knew her voice would shake in fear, and Blackstar just not saying a word.

They must have been walking a long time, because they ended up at the lake, and Blackstar finally spoke, "There's somewhere I want to show you; we can talk there."

Another wave of fear washed through her, but she followed him as he turned toward the RiverClan border. He took a maze of turns, and Hollyleaf struggled to keep up with him. _What could be so complicated to find?_ she thought impatiently, _A hidden place used to kill in secret?_ She mentally slapped her subconscious voice, hating that it was sparking even more fear into her.

With one last abrupt turn to the left, the pair was in a small clearing. Blackstar swished his tail, sitting down, and Hollyleaf looked around in wonder, "You brought me to a clearing?" she asked flatly.

He rolled his eyes, "Not just a clearing; I'm the only one in the clan that knows about this place."

Another terrifying thought, courtesy of her subconscious.

He motioned for her to sit down, and she did hesitantly. "I brought you here because," he paused using that dramatic effect he thought he was good at, "I think you need to talk to someone."

Well, that was anti-climatic.

"Talk to someone?" she repeated, "About what?"

He rolled his eyes again, "Well, you could start with why you've been searching for the killer."

She froze. "Was it that obvious?"

"It was when Crowfrost told me that you were harassing him with questions about the murder."

She cursed under her breath for not thinking about that concept. "Yes, I've been searching for who the killer is, and Crowfrost is a suspect."

He sighed in annoyance, "But so is everyone else with blue eyes!"

"Blue eyes and white fur. Also in ShadowClan," she huffed.

He narrowed his eyes, "When did white fur become part of the criteria?"

She blinked, and then realized she had never told him about Lionblaze's white fur theory. "Uh… when Scorchfur died."

He looked furious, then annoyed. "And you didn't tell me?"

She grinned sheepishly, "Sorry."

"So who do you have in mind for the killer?"

_You._ "Ratscar is the most suspicious right now. But Olivenose and Crowfrost are suspects, too."

He tilted his head curiously, "What about Redwillow? He's got both."

"And so do you!" Hollyleaf snapped in Redwillow's defence, then stuffed her tail in her mouth, embarrassed.

"Me?" Blackstar asked, taken aback, "Why would _I_ kill my clan?"

Hollyleaf shuffled around awkwardly, "Because you have blue eyes, white fur, you're strong and have a knack for killing?" she suggested truthfully.

He sighed, "I'm going to ignore that, and hope that you're never stupid enough to say anything like that to me again." She shuffled around again. "So, why not Redwillow?"

"W-well, why would he kill his brothers?" she offered helplessly.

"W-well, why would he kill his clan mates?" Blackstar mimicked angrily.

Mousedung. He had a point.

"I know he didn't do it!" Hollyleaf insisted, "I believe in him!"

Blackstar's fur stood on end, "Maybe he's tricking you!" he hissed back.

Hollyleaf flinched, "H-he wouldn't do that." She continued weakly. "Why don't you ever trust my judgment?"

His gaze softened. "I do trust you, Hollyleaf."

"No you don't! You never believe me, you always question my motives, and you never notice the things I do right!" She cried helplessly.

He looked surprised by her outburst, "I've always trusted you, Hollyleaf." He mewed softly, "I notice the things you do right," he continued. "And I question you because I worry about you."

Now Hollyleaf was surprised. She floundered for words, but none came to her mind, and all that came out was a stupid "oh."

He looked at her sadly, "I think of you like a daughter, Hollyleaf."

Now even the meek "oh" flew her mind.

"Now," he continued on, ignoring her silence. "There is another reason I brought you here." He looked around momentarily, "I thought you could let out some frustrations. Go attack a tree or something."

Hollyleaf quirked an eyebrow, "Uh, okay?" she pondered this over, before adding, "Actually, I do need to take my anger out on something."

Blackstar flicked his tail in farewell, "Do your worst then."

A broken claw, three shredded tree trunks, and littered moss everywhere later, Hollyleaf sat down with a huff of satisfaction.

The only thing left to do, would be send this place to ruins using her odd StarClan given power.

She could do that. Quite happily, she might add.

She let anger run through her, one of the few things she found that started her sacred power.

Nothing.

She blinked.

Fury was one of the few things that she knew would kick it in - that and fear or pain.

She tried again.

Nothing.

Fear coursed through her now; would that do anything? Apparently not.

She clawed at her side.

No.

Not a thing. Not even a small cloud of dust.

She swiped a paw full of soil into the air, and tried to control the wind to make it fly. It slowly slid back onto the ground.

"What's happening?" She shrieked to no one.

"_Time's up._" A voice echoed across the clearing eerily.

Hollyleaf's ears perked, and she looked around wildly. She recognized that voice; "Scorchfur!" Hollyleaf called desperately.

"_Your powers are gone, Hollyleaf._"

"I know! Why? What's happening?"

"_You missed._" The voice trailed away, and Hollyleaf listened hopefully for more. And she received. "_I'm sorry._"

She stayed there, ears perked, listening, scared.

Everything suddenly seemed like a threat, bigger than her, more powerful. Everything was off; colors swirled together, making obscure figures and unnatural colors and shades.

And she took off, zigzagging through the maze like path to get back to the beach. Fear waved through her, making her dizzy, and the obscurities shake violently.

Stumbling half-blind through the last part of the path, she collapsed on the beach, trying to catch her breath, trying to see normally, trying to go back.

'_There is no going back._' A voice whispered. '_You're to late._'

Hollyleaf struggled back to her feet, and propelled herself forward, trying to run away from it.

'_Tick tock, tick tock,_' the voice repeated insanely.

"Hollyleaf!" Another voice called.

'_Tick tock, tick tock,_'

She flinched and looked towards the region the voice had come from, praying that it wasn't another voice.

It wasn't. "Where were you?" Redwillow asked worriedly. He didn't look like himself. Yellow and red dots covered his pelt, and his eyes, instead of the happy, shining, friendly blue, were a cold amber. But it was him.

She stared at him blankly.

'_Tick tock, tick tock,_'

"I-" her voice cut off. There was a figure behind Redwillow. A shadow. Large, dark furred, with glowing red eyes. "What do you need?" she asked instead, eyes glued behind him, to the monster that sat there.

'_Tick tock, tick tock,_'

"Uh, well, by the ThunderClan border, Lionblaze wanted to talk to you. You should head over there." Redwillow explained, looking at her weirdly.

She nodded dumbly, "I'll head over." Redwillow nodded, backing away from her, and turning to go back to camp, away from the half-crazed she-cat. "Oh, and Redwillow?" he paused. "Be careful." She didn't know what plagued her to say that. She felt like she had too. He looked at her worriedly, and took off back to camp, running through the shadow, shattering it into shards of black splotches that floated in the air ominously.

'_Tick tock, Hollyleaf,_' the voice cackled.

She hurried to the ThunderClan border, eager to see her brother, someone she could confide in, who would listen and not judge.

Lionblaze was there, looking awkwardly at the two warriors –Shrewfoot and Dawnpelt, Hollyleaf thought; they looked almost like them, but she couldn't be sure- that were guarding him, making sure he wouldn't cross the border.

His eyes lit up when he caught sight of her, and his guards nodded respectively to their deputy, before heading off.

"Lionblaze." Hollyleaf breathed, unable to keep the relief from her voice.

'_Tick_'

He greeted her warmly, "Hollyleaf! Thank StarClan you're here!"

'_Tock_'

"Lionblaze I-" he cut her off, excitement and fear in his eyes.

'_Tick_'

"No, let me talk first," he started.

'_Tock_'

He glanced around suspiciously, before leaning closer to her. "Hollyleaf, I remember. I know who the killer is!"

_'Tick, tock,_'

'_Time's up._'

**Wow, that even scared me a little… One more, and epilogue.**

**I feel possessed for writing this. And, oh God, Hollyleaf is what I imagine to be high xD But she's actually just having a breakdown. No catnip was involved. She's just having issues. No drugs for the kitty.**

****Edit: Took the lyrics out because they were against the rules. Please take the time to listen to the song or search it up.****


	11. Return To The Sea

**On a completely other subject, I've gotten into neopets(Thanks to my oh-so lovely sister, Kuku-Oni/Kikaxlot) So… add me if you want. My name's Cinderpaw11 (Wow, shocker.) Also, happy birthday to me~ (On the 17****th****~)**

**Please don't kill me for the ending of this chapter.**

**Return To The Sea – Mermaid Melody – English Lyrics**

Hollyleaf padded away from the ThunderClan border, tail bushed, ears flat against her head.

_Of course it was you._

Colors still swirled slowly, but she paid no mind to such nuisances. She had to get to camp before anything could happen.

Lionblaze had explained quickly; Firestar had told him about the killer that always left behind the scent of toadstool, clever enough to hide the scent. And Lionblaze had done his best to remember, even going as far as to ask Jayfeather if their brother could look into his past for him.

But if Lionblaze didn't remember it, Jayfeather couldn't find it in his brother's memories.

_The clues pointed to you, even if there were others._

And then StarClan came to him in a dream.

Said that time was almost up.

'_Tick, tock._'

And that he had to tell her - soon.

And tell no one else.

Not Firestar, Blackstar, Redwillow, Cinderheart, Jayfeather. No one.

StarClan's job was to make it so only two knew. And even then, they had told Lionblaze that he would have to forget this.

They would erase his memories after he told her. No one was to know - not yet.

_I should have seen it in your eyes: the false caring, confusion, pity. Everything._

And he did forget; right after he told her, he asked her what he was doing there.

She lied. Told him he was there to talk about Cinderheart, what with her being pregnant and all. And he believed her; why wouldn't he? So he explained that she had gotten pregnant a bit over a moon ago, and that it seemed like there were going to be three kits.

She congratulated him, wished his kits and mate well, and bid farewell, saying that she had deputy duties to attend. Not a complete lie - she did.

Her thoughts escaped her as a rustling bush alerted her to another cat's presence, and she turned towards it a second to late, collapsing as a flurry of fur landed on her.

"You just couldn't let it go, could you?" A voice hissed in her ear.

'_Tick, tock,_'

Hollyleaf struggled away madly, and the cat above her snickered cruelly, letting her up. "_You._" Hollyleaf snarled, eyes blazing with hatred, "_You_ killed Scorchfur."

A wicked grin spread across the culprits face. "And Owlclaw. Almost Ivytail, almost you." Blue eyes flash. "But it seems like a second chance has come for me to kill you."

Hollyleaf hissed viciously, "You wish." She lunged quickly, catching the killer off guard. They landed with a small thud, a little ways away from her.

'_Tick, tock,_'

"You're going to regret doing that." They seethed, fur bristling along their spine.

"I'll never regret it." She hissed back, crouching into a fighting stance.

They circled each other slowly, preparing themselves for the other to attack first, before the killer, with a growl, lunged at her again. Hollyleaf rolled out of the way, but it seemed that that was expected, because moments later, she had a long gash on her side. She jumped away, swiping an unsheathed paw at her attackers face, and breathing out, satisfied, as it hit its target.

"How could you do this?" Hollyleaf shrieked, "Killing innocent cats – clan mates are your family! Even if you fight or disagree, you're still there for each other!"

Her only reply was a snarl of disgust and hatred, and being thwacked over the head.

She backed away dizzily, and shook her head violently, trying to get everything back into focus. It was hard enough to fight; everything still looked wrong, and she hadn't eaten that morning, making little black spots dance in front of her eyes.

But her blazing fury made them almost invisible as she stared at the cat that she had trusted at one point.

She leapt into action again, diving for her enemy's front paws, and succeeding in making them fall to the ground. She got in another scratch, a long scratch right over the eye, then backed away before **he** could get up.

His blue eyes shot towards her left, signaling his next move, and Hollyleaf jumped to the right, just as he did to the left.

"Even if you beat me," Hollyleaf gasped, "You'll have scratches to show who you fought."

He chuckled. "I didn't come without a plan, dear Hollyleaf. I can easily say that I saw your brother beating you, and leaped in to save you, but was to late."

Hollyleaf's eyes widened. "They'll never believe you." She rasped unsurely.

Lionblaze had been known as a killer in ShadowClan since Russetfur's death; would they really believe that he would be bloodthirsty enough to kill his sister?

"No – they won't." he agreed, "But I've hidden these scratches before." He reached over to claw her again, and she dodged narrowly.

She retaliated, faking a left, then jumping right, and biting into his side, ripping out a chunk of fur. "Try to hide that." She hissed, aiming another attack, and managing to lightly hit his side.

A maniacal grin, "You think you're the only one that's tried that?" He hissed, "Snowheart thought that would work, too," A well aimed hit, making her rump bleed lightly. "The trick," He breathed hard, "Is sticking fur on honey to make it stick to you." As if to prove this, he grabbed a small clump of white fur off himself, and Hollyleaf realized that it hadn't really been on him.

"You've thought this through well." Hollyleaf spat, faking him out again, and giving him a wide scratch on his shoulder. "But I won't give up easily."

"They always say that." He replied evenly before jumping over her head, and using his back feet to scratch her face.

'_Tick, tock,_'

Hollyleaf wished the voice would leave; she knew that something was wrong. She could easily see that when she looked at a tree, and saw a blue leaf. She thanked StarClan that it wasn't interfering with her fight.

"You'll never win this," the blue-eyed killer hissed, "They never do. They run out of tricks. And I don't."

She pretended to fake a left, and he jumped that way, colliding with her heavily. "I've got tricks too." She meowed with a smirk. "I'm from ThunderClan." She ran up a tree as she finished, climbing high in the air.

The killer looked up, face locked in a snarl.

Hollyleaf looked down at him, cleverly covered by leaves, and shook a branch, causing leaves to fall, and him to look that way. She shook a different one, and he looked that way. She repeated this once more, and as he turned towards it, flew down from the tree, tackling him hard, sending him halfway across the clearing, and stumbling slightly herself as she landed.

He lay on the ground, breathing hard for a moment, before going still.

Hollyleaf took a tense step forward, and then attacked him again. He jumped up with a cry of pain, and Hollyleaf tripped him down again. "They teach that trick to apprentices." She sneered, clawing furiously at his exposed stomach, and then leaping back as his left back paw shot up to kick her. "I've been trained by two clans," she growled, "I might just win this."

He got up to his feet, breathing heavily, "You fight more than they do." He admitted slowly. He smiled maliciously, "More of a fight then, hm?"

It finally occurred to her how insane this cat was.

Part of her screamed at her to flee while she could; go tell Blackstar. But she knew she wouldn't make it back to camp if she tried to escape without knocking him down first.

She ran up another tree and glared down at her newfound enemy. She rustled one branch, but his eyes flicked the other way, just as she planned. She quietly grabbed a dangling pinecone, and flung it down at him. He jumped away in surprise, and then attacked the pinecone, thinking it was Hollyleaf.

She jumped down again, tackling him just as he realized that the pinecone wasn't, in fact, her.

Another well-aimed hit on her cheek.

'_Tick, tock,_'

Hollyleaf's vision wavered, and she stumbled slightly, giving him another chance to hit. She backed away slightly, then quickly moved forward, only accomplishing raking her claws through his fur.

"Getting tired out, Hollyleaf?" He asked with a smirk.

Hollyleaf struggled away from the black haze that wanted to engulf her. She was too low on sleep, food, and on energy. "The clans going to start wondering where we are." She said instead of answering.

"I'm out hunting," another smirk. "You're talking to your brother."

"Someone will come looking." She persisted, trying to believe it herself.

"Maybe they will," he agreed halfheartedly, "But they'll only find your dead body."

"Or yours." Hollyleaf countered, taking a clumsy, yet successful, kick at his side.

He shook his head disbelievingly. "You honestly still think you're going to win?" He sighed.

Hollyleaf didn't answer, instead head-butting him over roughly. He yawned as though tired of this, and his eyes flashed dangerously.

"You won't just give up like the others?" Hollyleaf shook her head. He frowned, "It's so much more easy when they do."

Hollyleaf snarled at him, imagining Scorchfur's terrified face as he killed by this cat. A loud screech erupted from her, and with renewed energy, flung herself towards him, clawing and biting with all her might. He froze, taken aback, before clawing back at her, and tossing her like a leaf halfway across the clearing.

She thudded to the ground, and blackness swept around her vision again.

He approached her quickly, a winning sneer on his face.

'_Tick, tock,_'

A large wave of blackness swam past her vision, causing his face to disappear for only a moment.

He looked down at her almost pityingly, and then slashed her side again.

There wasn't any pain, and she forced herself to climb to her feet.

He rolled his eyes. "Why don't you just quit it," he snapped impatiently, "This would end so much quicker."

The world span around, and Hollyleaf barely heard a voice in the back of her mind, telling her to keep fighting. Scorchfur's voice.

She breathed deeply, and once again attacked him, biting his side hard, and swiping a paw over his eye.

He shook her off with ease.

She gasped for breath, and her eyes threatened to close.

"_I'm sorry,_" Her mates voice cried in her head, "_Get up! Please!_"

She shot one paw out as he came closer, and he tripped, cursing at her furiously.

"Won't…" She swallowed hard, "give up."

Irritation radiated off of him as he got back to his feet.

"You won't win in the end." She continued, ignoring that there was four of him staring down at her. Except three of them didn't look like him. The four looking down were the four male suspects, Hollyleaf barely realized; Blackstar was on the far right, Redwillow beside him, then Crowfrost, and last was Ratscar.

She swiped her paw through all of them, and it whacked between where Blackstar and Redwillow were.

The three fakes disintegrated, and two blue eyes flashed down at her gleefully.

'_Tick…_'

"Don't fight the darkness, Hollyleaf."

But she did – again. Her feet felt like bricks, but she got to them, and lifting one, she quickly cut his throat.

He made a choking, gasping, pained noise, and Hollyleaf finally allowed herself to fall.

'_Tock…_'

"_No!_" Scorchfur's voice echoed in her head.

With blurry vision, she saw claws raised over her throat, and a voice rolled around in her head like thunder as her fatigue finally caught up with her.

"Not hard enough, Hollyleaf."

'_No!_' she could barely see it, but the cut, though bleeding, wasn't quite big enough to kill him.

'_Time…_'

An almost sad look entered his eyes, "I really did love you, you know."

'_Then don't kill me._' Hollyleaf wanted to reply, but her breath hitched in her throat.

He shook his head, "But it's to late now."

'_Is…_'

With one, swift, flick of his paw, Hollyleaf's neck was cut open.

"_I'm sorry._" Two voices blended together; Scorchfur's and his.

With one last shuddering, painful breath, Hollyleaf's jaws opened in a yowl.

'_Up…_'

"_I'm sorry,_" Echoed one more time.

'_Tick, tock,_

'_Time's up._'

Finally it made sense.

The mystery was over.

"_Crowfrost!_"

**HAHAHA! I'M GOING TO BE KILLED ! I'M SUCH A B!TCH!**

**Anyway, uh, maniac over, um… please don't kill me.**

**Now, right now, imagine Hollyleaf's last words being, "**_**Review!**_**" Because I really want to hear you opinions.**

**Anyway, I kinda feel like crying… is it because Hollyleaf's dead, or the fanfiction almost over? I don't know.**

…**Epilogue will be up really soon. Not tomorrow soon, but soon. This Wed or Thursday probably. Hopefully sooner.**

****Edit: Took the lyrics out because they were against the rules. Please take the time to listen to the song or search it up.****


	12. Clean

**So… this is the epilogue. Please enjoy, and thank you all for not killing me.**

**Come Clean – Hilary Duff**

A sinuous stream flowed smoothly in front of Hollyleaf, and she glanced around curiously.

Where was Crowfrost, the battlefield, the bloody red stained grass?

_Where was she?_

She looked around one more. Bare plains in all directions, and the river the only landmark for miles.

Her emerald green eyes scanned the fields, looking for something as simple as a small hole to lead her somewhere.

No luck. The only thing besides grass was the river.

So she followed it downstream, waiting, hoping, that something would appear – that some_one_ would appear, and tell her what was happening. All she could remember was battling it out with Crowfrost, and after a long duel, she had clawed Crowfrost's throat with her last bout of energy.

Shouldn't she be struggling to her paws, making her way back to camp, not full of energy, in some mysterious meadow?

She sighed, plopping down next to the river irritably. She slapped the river, watching, satisfied, as the steady current was disrupted momentarily.

She stared into it, watching curiously as the ripples she caused slowed, and an image formed.

Suddenly the ShadowClan camp was in her view. A crowd had formed in the center of it, teary eyed, moaning, yowling. Hollyleaf looked harder at the water, trying to see what was happening, to see through the crowd. She looked at the individual cats, trying to decipher their feelings about what was happening.

Blackstar was hunched in the shadows of his den, staring out with almost lifeless eyes, scaring Hollyleaf so bad she looked toward another cat.

Snowbird was desperately trying to calm Rosekit and Rockkit down, as they were wailing so hard that their throats _had_ to be raw, but they weren't giving up. Snowbird's voice would crack off every few words, and she'd look away from them, pained.

Redwillow and Applefur were at the outside of the crowd, Redwillow's eyes filled with horror, unblinking, and every couple of moments a violent spasm would shake through him. Applefur stroked his fur soothingly with her tail, quivering horribly.

Olivenose sat by the warrior's den, eyes wild with fear, eyeing anyone who came within three feet of her, with suspicion.

Ratscar was staring mournfully at the bunch, cowering by the almost empty fresh-kill pile, shaking his head every once in awhile as though someone had asked him a question through all the terror.

Sitting on the other side of the pile, Crowfrost was crouched, head bowed, only periodically looking up, a look of happiness shining in his eyes, that would quickly turn into one of mourning and horror. Hollyleaf barely stopped her paw from instinctively shooting out to attack him, as this was just his picture, and she was scared that it would shatter, and she would never see it again, stuck by herself in this lonely field.

She looked around once more, hardly noticing the cats that hadn't had a lot to do with her the last few moons.

Only one more cat caught her eyes.

By the entrance to the camp, a ghostly figure was sitting, head hanging guiltily.

Scorchfur.

He was staring at his kits, eyes reflecting the sadness that theirs held.

Hollyleaf looked at him blankly, wondering why she could see him, and why he was there, while she was at some random, unfamiliar field.

Reaching one tense paw forward, she prodded the spot where he was standing in the water.

He looked up abruptly, right at her, and then with one last look at their kits, he padded out of the camps entrance, and out of her sight. She looked at it, desperation coursing through her, "Come back!" she called uselessly.

"Need something?"

Hollyleaf whipped around, almost falling into the river in the process, and came face-to-face with Scorchfur, who had somehow appeared behind her. She blinked speechlessly, before tackling him over happily. "Scorchfur! Where are we? What are we doing here? Where'd you come from? What's going on?" she fired off questions heedlessly, ignoring his half-amused, half-serious expression.

Eventually, he shoved her off of him, and sat up, shaking the dust from his pelt. "Hollyleaf," he interrupted her rambling. "We need to talk."

_Sounds like a breaking up line,_ Hollyleaf mused to herself. "Yes," she agreed, "We do. More like, you do. Answer my tornado of questions already!"

He looked at her oddly, probably mulling over the way she said 'tornado of questions'. "Well, uh, yeah," He said finally, "We are currently in the In Between," he explained quickly.

"The In-"

"Shush!" he snapped, stuffing his tail in her mouth to prevent interruption. "Yes, the In Between. It's a place between StarClan and earth. Second, we are here, because… because you died yesterday," she tried to interrupt him to ask what he meant by yesterday and died, but he shot her a glare that silenced her. "Yesterday evening, Crowfrost killed you," he whispered.

Memories rushed back at her full blast. "Oh." She murmured meekly, managing such a simple statement even through his tail.

He waited a moment, expecting her to say something else, and when she didn't continue, he did. "I came from down there," he meowed, taking his tail out of her mouth and pointing down at the water that reflected ShadowClan's camp. "You got my attention by tapping the water; it signaled that you had finally woken up here," He paused in case she started talking again, nodding happily when she decided not to. "What's going on?" he repeated her last question sadly.

She watched him in confusion, but not interrupting him again.

At last, he sighed, shaking his head disappointedly. "Come with me," he meowed, starting down the river, gesturing what he said with his tail. She obliged, following at heels, staring into the water in amazement.

The territory was rushing by as they padded along it.

When they arrived at ThunderClan's camp, he finally stopped, staring into the river sadly. "This is where I drop you off," he meowed.

Confusion swept through her, "What? Aren't we going to StarClan together?"

He smiled bitterly, "I'm sorry, Hollyleaf." He meowed, shaking his head again. "I'm just dropping you off here. Then I'm going back to StarClan."

She shook her head madly, "No! What's going on!"

He avoided her eyes by looking into the river. "You're going back." He admitted minutes later.

She looked down at the river. ""I'm not dead?" she asked curiously, staring at Lionblaze, who was pacing outside the nursery entrance, occasionally sticking it in, just to get swatted out moments later.

"No," Scorchfur mewed, "You're dead." He glanced at her quickly, "You're going back as one of Lionblaze's kits."

"I'm being reincarnated?" Hollyleaf asked slowly.

He shook his head again, "Not exactly," he continued to shake his head as if he was trying to get a fly off his face. "You are going back," he repeated, "Just… not exactly." He must have seen her annoyance, because he continued, still struggling to find the right words, "You… You're more like a… a voice of reason." He paused, grimacing. "You have to lead this kit through troubles. It is this kits destiny to stop Crowfrost."

"So… I'm giving this cat schizophrenia?" she asked dryly.

He shook another invisible fly away from him. "Yes, in a way, I guess."

Hollyleaf looked at him sadly, "So I can't come with you?"

He shook his head, this time normally, "Not until your mission is done."

She nodded slowly and sadly, looking back into the water. "Isn't Cinderheart giving birth early?" She asked in alarm.

"No," another headshake. "It's been about half a moon; ThunderClan is already aware of your death. Time moves faster here."

Nothing seemed to surprise her anymore. "Okay." She turned to him. "This is where I leave, isn't it?"

He nodded slowly, eyes glinting with sadness.

She turned away, looking back at the ThunderClan camp. "What do I do?"

He looked down at the camp, and then her. "This is where we say goodbye," he murmured.

"But I don-"

Scorchfur shoved her into the river, looking down at her as she sunk deeper.

"_I'm sorry…_"

Was that a memory, or did he really say that?

Hollyleaf couldn't tell. The In Between was slipping away as she went lower and lower.

"_What should we call her?_" She heard Lionblaze's quiet whisper.

She stopped sinking, stuck at the bottom of this river.

Blackness was all around her, and she turned in furious circles, trying to find something, anything, that was different. If all she saw was black for the rest of this new kits life, she'd go mad.

"_Hollykit, open your eyes!_" Cinderhearts excited mew broke her concentration.

'_Oh,_' she realized dumbly, '_I just landed. I'm out of the In Between. How much time has passed?_'

Her question was answered when 'Hollykit' opened her eyes.

Colors and light greeted her eyes painfully.

_I see,_ Hollyleaf mused to herself, lying down comfortably, _I'm in her head._

This could be a long wait.

[_Let's go back  
>Back to the beginning<em>]

**Go to the next chapter to read my authors note!**

****Edit: Took the lyrics out because they were against the rules. Please take the time to listen to the song or search it up.****

**I left the ending lyrics in brackets, just cause they are effective... somewhat.**


	13. Authors Note

**Hey all,**

**Cinderpaw11 at your service!**

**So you see, Come Clean, Book One of The Renewed Trilogy, is done.**

**The sequel should be out shortly, and as it seems at the moment, it will be called Once Upon a December.**

**Could change, we'll see. But keep an eye out for my name, or alert me to read it!**

**I'd like to thank all of my reviewers:**

**Rapidfeather (First reviewer, **_**and**_** faved. You accomplished making me feel special)**

**Nightfeather12**

**Kagome996**

**Hollystar4eva (Anonymous) **

**Iceshadow911247**

**TamTam418**

**Sweetlily01**

**Whitestar17**

**Nightkill**

**Kameo (Anonymous)**

**HIH (Anonymous)**

**Ahluvpiah**

**Willowfur (Your reviews almost always got a snicker out of me. With a damn cherry on top. :P)**

**Jayfeather314**

**WildCroconaw**

**GardevoirLove4ever**

**Mwahahahasupporter**

**Izzy2589**

**Shmancy-Fancy-Kitteh (You're too smart for your own good…)**

** (Anonymous without a name…)**

**AND!  
>Anyone else that reviews later, if they do.<br>**

**Remember, you're all awesome!**** (Even people who don't.)**

**62 reviews… You know, my original goal was 75, but even this is so many I wanna cry. Let's see if I can still reach my goal~**

**Remember to keep watch,**

**Cinderpaw11.**

**EDIT::**

**I went through and took the lyrics out because they were against the rules. Other than that, nothing has been changed, so nobody worry about anything.**

**Also, the sequel has been posted, so if you aren't reading it yet, you may want to, just to know how the trilogy ends.  
><strong>


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